Microsoft wins against FTC, clearing vital hurdle for Activision Blizzard acquisition
The FTC's request for a preliminary injunction against Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been denied, meaning that the deal can now be closed—even though the FTC's larger case against the deal is still moving forward.
«Our merger will benefit consumers and workers,» Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement released immediately following the ruling. «It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.»
The request for a preliminary injunction was in fact just a midway step in the FTC's ongoing challenge against the deal, intended to prevent the acquisition from being completed before a final ruling on the proposed buyout could be made. It was something of a twist on the permission vs forgiveness conundrum: The FTC's lawsuit against the acquisition becomes a lot less meaningful if the deal is already closed.
«After considering the parties' voluminous pre-and-post hearing writing submissions, and having held a five-day evidentiary hearing, the Court DENIES the motion for preliminary injunction,» the heavily-redacted ruling states. «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, or that its ownership of Activision content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.»
The judge rejected the FTC's claim that Microsoft's decision to make Starfield and Redfall console exclusives demonstrated a likelihood that the same could happen with the Call of Duty series, stating that neither are «are remotely similar to Call of Duty.» She also said the complaint that the merger
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