A court case attempting to challenge Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard was concluded in Microsoft’s favor on July 11, 2023. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of San Francisco handed down the decision to deny the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) request for a preliminary injunction, which will likely put an end to the FTC’s efforts to block the acquisition. It is now likely that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision will go through at some point over the next several weeks. However, things may occur differently in Europe where the acquisition was vetoed by the European Union.
In her decision, Judge Corley asserted that the FTC had not successfully proven its assertion that Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard would result in a decrease in competition within the video game market. She also did not believe the FTC’s claim that Microsoft will remove access to games from the long-running Call of Duty series on Sony-owned PlayStation consoles. Judge Corley’s decision came after a five-day hearing and what was described in her statement as “voluminous” written evidence from all involved parties.
From the decision: Judge is skeptical that Microsoft will pull Call of Duty from PlayStation or lessen competition should the Activision Blizzard acquisition finalize pic.twitter.com/Q3CIFvQtRU
— Cecilia D'Anastasio (@cecianasta) July 11, 2023
The acquisition, which is planned to cost $65 million USD, will be the largest video game-related deal in history. Anticipation of the upcoming merger and its major impact has caused Activision Blizzard stock to shoot up to over $88 per share in the wake of the decision. However, while there is little to stop the deal from going through at this point, things are not completely finalized – the US government may decide to take the case to appellate court to appeal and potentially overturn Judge Corley’s decision.
Both Microsoft president Brad Smith and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick spoke publicly in favor of the court’s decision. A spokesperson for the FTC, on the other hand, revealed that the FTC was disappointed by the decision but does not plan to give up the fight to block the merger. According to this spokesperson, the FTC will announce their planned next step at some point in the next few days.
