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Microsoft Beats FTC, Activision Blizzard Deal Pending

Court has ruled against the FCS's injunction
by Tit Krajnik on July 11, 2023   

On Tuesday, June 11, Microsoft won its court case against the Federal Trade Commission after the court found that the FTC had not provided substantial evidence to prevent Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This is a massive step towards the blockbuster merge, but Microsoft still has other obstacles to overcome.

 

The landmark $69 billion deal, which would see Microsoft acquire Activision Blizzard, is one of the biggest news in the gaming industry of the past two years both due to its importance and all the hoops Microsoft has to jump through to finalize the deal. If the deal comes, though. Microsoft would acquire all of Activision Blizzard's most significant game titles, such as Diablo, Call of Duty, and World of Warcraft, the idea of which was met both with praise and pushback.

However, on Tuesday, July 11, Microsoft overcame one major obstacle when the US court ruled that the Federal Trade Commission failed to provide enough evidence to prevent Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard.
 

"Notwithstanding the overwhelming evidence of the combined firm's lack of incentive to pull Call of Duty from PlayStation, the FTC insists it is probable the combined firm will do so because it is in its financial interests."


One of FTC's claims was that Microsoft would make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, but the court found that Microsoft would have no financial incentive to restrict CoD from PlayStation systems and ruled against the argument.

"Microsoft executives have nonetheless committed publicly and under oath in court to continue to sell Call of Duty to Sony."

The FTC also argued that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard would harm innovation. Still, the court again ruled against this claim, arguing that FTC hadn't provided enough evidence to support it.

Having beaten the court case, Microsoft is now closer than ever to acquiring Activision Blizzard, but the deal is not done yet. FTC still hasn't closed its investigation into Microsoft's deal. It's only that its injunction has been denied.

But there's another hoop Microsoft has to jump through.

Microsoft has yet to be given the green light by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority, which voted to block the deal due to concerns about how it could give Microsoft a monopoly over cloud-based gaming. Still, the CMA is ready to consider proposals addressing monopoly concerns.

Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard remains a controversial topic, especially in the eyes of Sony, the loudest opponent to the deal, due to concerns about how it would affect PlayStation's access to Call of Duty. But despite all the worries and drama, we're now closer than ever to one of the most impactful and biggest deals in the gaming industry.

 

Check back with DailyGamer and follow us on Twitter Twitter @realDailyGamer to stay up to date with the latest news in the gaming world.

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