Judge rules for Microsoft in FTC fight over Activision

polygon.com:

Microsoft’s planned $68.7 billion purchase of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard can go forward in the U.S., a federal judge ruled on Tuesday. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the Federal Trade Commission’s request to stop the deal before its deadline for completion on July 18.

“The FTC has not shown it is likely to succeed on its assertion the combined firm will probably pull Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation,” Corley wrote in her order, “or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.”

She continued:

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services. This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted — perhaps even terminated — pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.

The FTC can appeal this ruling; it has until July