Microsoft defeats FTC, moving closer to owning Activision Blizzard

pcgamesn.com:

07/11/2023 Microsoft president Brad Smith has revealed that following the court decision, both Microsoft and the UK CMA have agreed to a stay of litigation over the CMA’s blocking of the deal, to work on proposals to get an agreement reached.

The FTC’s injunction against the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which would include the purchase of Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft, has been denied by the California District Court. This means that the almost $70 billion deal is one step closer to reality. The court says that Microsoft has suitably addressed concerns about Call of Duty and other upcoming games not coming to PlayStation and Nintendo consoles, as well as questions regarding Game Pass and cloud gaming, and has now dismissed the FTC’s injunction.

Court documents from the United States District Court of the Northern District of California outline that Microsoft has won the case brought against it by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which was seeking to block the Xbox owner’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard owing to concerns regarding lessening of competition in the videogame industry.

With the FTC injunction dismissed, one of the biggest roadblocks for the $69 billion buyout of the World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Diablo maker, is removed.

“Our merger will benefit consumers and workers,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick says in a statement issued to PCGamesN. “It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.”

In a document published on Tuesday, July 11, the California North District Court outlined why it has denied the FTC motion to prevent the acquisition.

“Four weeks ago, the