United States of America: Issued Court ruling concerning Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard (FTC v. Microsoft)

On 10 July 2023, the US District Court of the Northern District of California issued its decision concerning the complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The court ruled that Microsoft is allowed to proceed with its planned acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard for USD 69 billion. Prior to this, the FTC had argued that the deal would harm gamers and stifle competition by granting Microsoft, the creator of Xbox, the ability to deny rivals access to Activision's games. Therefore, the FTC had sought an emergency injunction to halt the deal, which is set to conclude later this month, while it contested the plans. The court rejected this request on the basis that the FTC has not demonstrated a likelihood of success in its claim that the merged company is likely to withdraw Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision content would significantly diminish competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.