Microsoft and Activision Blizzard earned a giant win in court docket right now, as a federal judge dominated that the Federal Trade Commission can not block the $68.7 billion merger.
The FTC sued Microsoft in December in an try to cease its acquisition of the gaming big, which owns large franchises like World of Warcraft and Call of Duty; the federal government physique worried that the deal would “enable Microsoft to suppress competitors.” Microsoft already has a big presence within the gaming business, producing merchandise just like the Xbox console, the Game Pass subscription and Xbox Cloud Gaming, and it owns a lot of current sport studios like ZeniMax.
However, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley dominated that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard wouldn’t be anti-competitive.
“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 wrote.
This ruling is a superb signal for Microsoft, however the deal continues to be not set in stone. The Xbox maker continues to be going through legal challenges in the U.K., the place the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is making an attempt to dam the deal. However, the European Commission (EC) gave Microsoft the go-ahead in May.
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