Microsoft Activision Deal Accelerating In Light Of UK Appeal, FTC TRO

gameranx.com:

There’s a lot to catch up on in regards to the Microsoft Activision deal’s progress in the UK and especially the US. As counterintuitive as it is, this may all lead to the deal getting finalized sooner rather than later.

First, we’ll discuss what has happened. Patents expert Florian Mueller attended part of the 2nd case management conference with the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, which finished quite rapidly. The tribunal has scheduled the appeal case to be held in late July, and is expected to last something between four to six days. Microsoft proposed the start date of July 28, 2023, but that has not been decided yet.

Before this business ended, however, the FTC made their own move and filed both a preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order to stop the Microsoft – Activision deal from going through. This is now the third case filed in the US to block the deal, but surprisingly enough Microsoft’s response has been – positive? Yes, believe it or not, Microsoft president Brad Smith shared this response to the report on the new legal actions by the FTC:

“Today’s action by the FTC to file suit in our Activision case in federal court should accelerate the decision-making process. This benefits everyone. We always prefer constructive and amicable paths with governments but have confidence in our case and look forward to presenting it.”

Now, let’s go back a bit so that there’s no confusion. The first US case filed vs the Microsoft Activision deal also comes from the FTC, and is being heard in FTC court under Judge Michael Chappel.

The second US case vs the deal is the one filed in a San Francisco, California federal court. This is the one popularly dubbed the ‘gamer’s lawsuit’, and it has already been