Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appeared on CNBC this week to talk about the future of the company, including what's next for the Xbox team. Of course, this discussion led to questions about the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and how Microsoft is responding to the current regulatory approval processes going on around the world.

In response to a question about how confident Microsoft is of the deal going through, Nadella went on a bit of a tangent about how regulators — and the industry generally — should look at how much market share Japan has in the video game industry. Here's what the Microsoft CEO had to say on the matter:

"If they [the regulators] really seriously think about competition, they have to really reflect on 'is this going to be helpful to bring more competition?'. Right, think about this, there are people who make more money in gaming who don't even build games. Maybe we should look at that.

Then, even if you look at the console market, we should probably look at Microsoft's share of the console market in Japan as perhaps a question that somebody should ask and say, 'oh, wow, I wonder why that is, that's [a small share], maybe they should actually start competing more [in Japan].'

So, I hope that the regulators take an approach that is going to truly be beneficial to gamers, it's going to be beneficial to all publishers..."

Of course, Activision Blizzard isn't exactly known for its Japanese content, but clearly, Microsoft believes getting the company and its IP on board would help Xbox close the gap on Nintendo and Sony, driving growth in the region.

However, shortly after Nadella's televised appearance, the UK CMA published its latest report on the acquisition, and it's not a very positive outlook. While the outcome of the authority's investigation is still very much up in the air, the regulator has said that the deal could be "harmful" to the industry, even proposing such moves as removing Call of Duty from the purchase altogether.

For now, the investigations continue as Microsoft pushes to get this deal over the line. Maybe this calendar year we will see an end to the ActiBlizz saga? We can certainly hope so.

What do you make of these comments? Will this deal have an impact on Japan? Let us know your thoughts.