The FTC has asked a US court to temporarily block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard

rockpapershotgun.com:

Things aren't going so smoothly for Microsoft, as the US' Federal Trade Commission has now asked a court to temporarily block the $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. As reported by Reuters, the FTC claimed that Microsoft had pointed towards closing the deal as soon as this Friday, leading the organisation to request that a federal judge block any final agreement that might take place before 11:59pm ET, June 15.

"Both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction are necessary because Microsoft and Activision have represented that they may consummate the proposed acquisition at any time," reads the FTC's complaint (via The Verge). "With control of Activision's content, Microsoft would have the ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision's content in ways that substantially lessen competition."

A decision hasn't been made by the US court yet, but a judge will soon make the call on whether a temporary restraining order stopping Microsoft from going through with the deal for two weeks needs to be placed or not. A preliminary injunction may also need to put into effect to stop Microsoft from closing the deal until the end of the FTC's legal challenge.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said, "We welcome the opportunity to present our case in federal court," in a statement provided to Reuters, while Activision did not provide a comment.

It's not a particularly surprising move from the FTC, as the anti-trust organisation began the process of suing to stop Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard last year. This latest move from the FTC is another bump in the road after the UK's Competitions and Markets Authority blocked the merger back in April. Microsoft isn't having problems