What Does Video Game Have to Do with Cade – The Brazilian Antitrust Authority?

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the game industry will increase by around 25% in 2023. Consolidation transactions between competing or vertically related companies, mainly when affecting consumers with inferior bargaining power, may raise concerns by the antitrust authorities. These authorities start having a much more careful look not only at the M&A deals per se, in order to avoid a market power increase that could facilitate the implementation of abusive conducts by companies resulting from mergers, but also at other potentially exclusionary business practices, such as, exclusive dealing arrangements, parity clauses, refusal to deal, discrimination, among others.The Brazilian Antitrust Authority (Cade) seems to be monitoring such movement. Despite not having initiated investigations into specific conducts of video game companies, Cade has already reviewed acquisition transactions in the industry and issued opinions that indicate some grounds for its future reviews, in the context of the peculiarities of the Brazilian economy, which allows the players to anticipate concerns.Therefore, it is important for companies in the gaming industry to be mindful of approaching Cade (the Brazilian Antitrust Authority) to explain, in detail, the characteristics of the sector, in order for the authority to get the necessary elements to play its role in protecting open competition, creating even more options for consumers, without, however, excessively interfering in the incentives for innovation