Microsoft has won its Activision Blizzard acquisiton case with the FTC

Microsoft has won its court case against the United States' Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It can now continue its planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, the developer behind titles like Diablo 4, Call of Duty and Candy Crush, for $68.7bn.

The case provided heaps of gaming news last week on all things Activision Blizzard. It even dragged console rivals Sony into the heat after a court mistake revealed how much the publisher spends on games like The Last of Us Part 2. In reality, the case has actually been viewed as the opening to the deal. 

Last week's dramatic court case hinged on whether the FTC could be allowed an injunction to block the deal while it investigated it further temporarily. But in reality, it has been viewed as a referendum on the deal's overall ability to still succeed.

A lot of the legal work around this deal has been punctuated by social media posts from those involved, and today was no different. Xbox chief Phil Spencer took to Twitter soon after the hearing to say: "The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry, and the FTC's claims about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don't reflect the realities of the gaming market." 

1/We're grateful to the court for swiftly deciding in our favor. The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry and the FTC’s claims about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don’t reflect the realities of the gaming market.July 11, 2023

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"Since we first announced this deal, our commitment to bringing more games to more people on more devices has only grown. We've signed multiple agreements to make Activision Blizzard's games, Xbox first-party games and Game Pass all available to more players than they are today." he continued. "We know that players around the world have been watching this case closely and I'm proud of our efforts to expand player access and choice throughout this journey," 

The United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the acquisition in the UK in April of this year. Now, the UK finds itself as the lone country opposing the acquisition, with their opposition lodged because of Microsoft's market-leading position in cloud gaming. An appeal by Microsoft is currently underway.