Microsoft wins lawsuit against FTC over purchase of Activision Blizzard

good news for Microsoft. Judge Jacqueline Corley ruled in favor of Redmond following a recent five-day hearing in which the FTC tried to block the purchase Activision Blizzard. Thus, the company will be able to move forward with the $69,000 million acquisition.

The magistrate’s ruling rejected a preliminary precaution that the Federal Trade Commission had proposed to veto the agreement. This means that Microsoft now has a clear path to close its US purchase of Activision Blizzard before the July 18 deadline. However, remains to be seen what is happening in the UK.

In her decision, the judge explained that Microsoft provided sufficient evidence of its commitment to support call of Duty on PlayStation and bringing it to more platforms like Switch. And while he admits that the scrutiny of buying Activision Blizzard is logical and deserved given its scale, also exposes the FTC’s lack of compelling evidence to block it.

“[…] The Court finds that the FTC has failed to demonstrate the likelihood of victory in its contention that this particular vertical merger in this particular industry could substantially reduce competition. To the contrary, the evidence in the record points to increased consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. Therefore, the request for an injunction is DENIED.”

Extract from Judge Corley’s ruling.

Microsoft closes deal to buy Activision Blizzard in the US

Top executives from Microsoft and Activision Blizzard were quick to celebrate the ruling in their favor. Brad Smith, president of the Redmond firm, tweeted a brief statement thanking the San Francisco court. “As we have consistently demonstrated throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns,” he said.

From my side, Phil Spencer, the leader of Xbox, also applauded the determination of Judge Corley. “The evidence has shown that the Activision Blizzard settlement is good for the industry and that the FTC’s statements about changing consoles, multi-game subscription services, and the cloud do not reflect the realities of the gaming market.” tweeted.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, was another one who didn’t miss the opportunity to celebrate the court ruling. And even launched an implicit dart against Sony, the main opponent of the acquisition. “Our merger will benefit consumers and employees. It will enable competition rather than allow established market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry,” he said.

On the opposite sidewalk, the reaction from the FTC was to be expected. This was announced by the official representative of the Federal Trade Commission Douglas Farrar. bloomberg your dissatisfaction with the decision. And his words seem to hint that the body is not going to give up so easily.

“We are disappointed with this result given the clear threat this merger poses to open up competition in cloud gaming, subscription services and consoles. In the coming days, we will announce our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers.

FTC statement.

The FTC may appeal the court’s decision blocking the purchase of Activision Blizzard. You have until next Friday, July 14 at 11:59 pm PT.. In any case, it remains to be seen whether the body chaired by Lina Khan will actually go down this path.

What’s next for Microsoft

By defeating the FTC in court, Microsoft secured approval in two of the three territories that were presented as keys to moving forward with the purchase of Activision Blizzard. The Redmonds have already received approval from the European Commission and are now free to push the deal in the United States. However, as we mentioned earlier, what happens in the UK remains to be decided.

Article in development…