Summary
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard may finally be free of legal drama, as the FTC has lost its appeal against an earlier denial. The Xbox-maker has owned Activision Blizzard for nearly two years now, but the case against the deal was technically still open, thanks to repeated filings from the FTC. Now, courts have again ruled in favor ofMicrosoft, putting the long-lasting appeal to bed.
Despite initial pushback from regulatory authorities,Microsoft officially acquired Activision Blizzardin October 2023. The $68.7 billion deal was and still is the company’s largest acquisition to date, so it naturally spurred some antitrust concerns from multiple governments. While most regulators seemed satisfied with it by the end of 2023, the FTC still pursued action against the purchase, but this latest ruling is good news for Microsoft once again.
In acourt opinion obtained by The Verge, the appeals court panel upheld an earlier decision to deny the FTC’s request to temporarily pause the acquisition. After a judge denied that request, the FTC immediately appealed it,arguing that Microsoft could withhold Activision titlesfrom other platforms. Almost two years later, the appeals court finally offered its opinion on the matter and, perhaps unsurprisingly, sided with the original ruling, citing a lack of evidence. According to the court document, the FTC failed “to make an adequate showing” of the likelihood of those claims.
Appeals Court Upholds the Denial of the FTC’s Appeal Against Microsoft
It’s easy to see where the appeals court is coming from. Since acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has not shown any interest in keeping games made by the studio exclusive to Xbox or PC. In fact,PlayStation users accounted for 64% of spending on Microsoft titlesin December 2024, thanks largely toCall of Duty: Black Ops 6’s PS5 release. Before the acquisition went through, Microsoft struck several deals with other gaming companies to keep its games on their platforms, too. Those agreements likely helped the initial approval and probably played a role in this recent decision.
It’s worth noting that the opinion mentions that the deal is still subject to an ongoing case before the FTC. However, the request for a preliminary injunction to stop the merger, which has already happened, is now officially dead. The FTC could make other arguments in its larger case in the future, and the agencyhas cited Activision layoffs as a strike against Microsoftin its ongoing antitrust battle. For now, though, Microsoft has survived the initial complaint against its merger.
