FTC Loses Appeal in Microsoft–Activision Blizzard Case as Court Upholds $68.7bn Deal

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost its appeal against $ 68.7 billion Microsoft's Video Game Publisher's Microsoft Publisher, a major blow to the agency's efforts to prevent the power of big tech through antitrust enforcement.

In a decision released this week, a panel of judges from the ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals promotes the earlier denial of a lower decline in an initial injunction that may silence the deal.

The court concluded that the FTC had “failed to produce a sufficient manifestation about the possibility of success in the merits about any of its theories, the district court has well denied the FTC movement for an initial injunction on that basis,” according to the opinion mentioned by Reuters.

The decision confirms the decision of US district judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in July 2023, who denied the FTC's attempt to hinder integration on the basis that the agency did not show that the acquisition would significantly reduce competition in the gaming market. The next day, the FTC appealed the decision, but Microsoft and Activision closed the deal in October 2023, almost two years after the union was announced.

The FTC initially blocked the acquisition in December 2022, pointing out that Microsoft's control over the content of the activision game could provide the ability and incentive to “prevent or overthrow activision content in ways that greatly reduce competition – including product quality, price, price, and change competition.”

In the midst of the FTC's challenge is to remember that Microsoft can take the Blockbuster titles of Activision, such as Call of Duty, exclusively on its own platforms or otherwise not ruin rival consolors and cloud playing services. But the district court, and now the court of appeal, FTC evidence has found.

According to the Appeal Court summary, the FTC failed to show that Microsoft could aforeclose rivals in a way that would harm consumers. The panel has not found enough support for the theory that Microsoft's Ownership of Activision will reduce competition in the gaming console market, subscription-based gaming services, or emerging cloud playing platforms.

While the Acquisition has now cleared both US courts and regulatory reviews in the UK, after Microsoft's concessions to transfer cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, the case of the FTC administrative against the technically integrated remains.

“The deal is still the subject of an administrative continuation that remains pending before the FTC,” the appeal's opinion.

However, in today's dealings are closed and two court decisions against its motion to pause, FTC options appear to be increasingly limited.

The ruling emphasizes the powerful conflict facing the FTC under the leadership of Chair Lina Khan as it sought to challenge the dominant technology companies through more aggressive implementation of Antitrust. The Microsoft -Activity case has joined other recent instances where the agency struggles to convince the courts to stop the huge tech acquisition.

Despite this uprising, Khan defends the agency's posture, focusing that the challenges are required even if success is unsure, to ensure that regulatory administration continues to continue to integrate the industry. However, legal observers have pointed out that the repeated FTC losses in court may weaken the ability to influence future tech integration.

Microsoft's integration -Activity remains the largest in the history of the gaming industry. Microsoft said the acquisition will help speed up the approach to playing cloud and expands access to activision titles. The company has promised to keep Call of Duty available on rival platforms for at least ten years as part of competitors' agreements such as Sony and Nintendo.

Microsoft did not release a fresh feedback following the latest decision. The FTC also does not make a statement whether it will continue the administrative challenge or accept the court's judgment.