FTC Might Still Appeal Their Injunction Case Vs Microsoft Activision Deal
Somehow, the FTC is still considering trying to stop the Microsoft – Activision deal.
As reported by Bloomberg, a source close to the agency revealed that they are leaning towards attempting an appeal, instead of accepting San Francisco, California District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s decision.
They haven’t made a final decision yet, but the appeal could be filed as soon as today, July 12, 2023.
In spite of the FTC’s stubbornness in their position, their prospects for success aren’t exactly quite high. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s decision has rejected all their arguments, with Judge Corley noting that they were overly reliant on Sony’s contributions.
The problem with that, of course, is that these arguments would then be geared towards protecting Sony’s market position, instead of finding a position that would be the most favorable to consumers.
As we had reported, Judge Corley also found that Microsoft’s decision to expand the reach of Call of Duty to Nintendo and independent cloud gaming platforms went far and beyond to address the concerns raised by the transaction.
While Judge Corley’s ruling was a clear and definite win for Microsoft, the judge also made it clear that she would provide allowance so that an appeal could be rushed in time before the July 18 deadline Microsoft and Activision set to close the deal. She had particularly made this clear, so that there would be sufficient time for an appeal to be processed, and also so that there would be no complaint after the fact that she hadn’t made it possible. To be clear, either Microsoft or the FTC could have filed that appeal, dependent on where the decision went.
We turn now to Florian Mueller to share his commentary on the chances of this appeal
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