South Africa is the latest country to approve of Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The Competition Tribunal has "unconditionally approved" the deal and will go into further detail as to why shortly.

South Africa joins the EU, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Brazil in approving the $68.7 billion merger.

The tech giant's efforts to buy the company have been blocked in the UK by the Competition and Markets Authority - but Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox brand, insists that the firm remains committed to the takeover.

During an appearance on the 'What's Next for Gaming' panel, Spencer explained: "I'd say the company, Microsoft – which is obviously important when you're thinking about spending $70 billion, which is crazy to think about – they're very committed.

"We are very committed. We think there's a real capability that Activision Blizzard King has, specifically in mobile and PC, and just growing our portfolio that will help us find more players and reach more players."

The boss also revealed that Microsoft remains confident about closing the deal, despite recent setbacks.

He said: "We're out there to find solutions with the regulators that have questions. And that's what we're actively doing from Brad Smith, who is our chief counsel at the company, [or] Sarah spending a lot of time on the road with regulators, we're trying to get to solutions.

"We did that with the European Commission, and I'm confident that we'll find solutions for the other areas as well. It's taking time. It's taking focus. But I'm confident."