FTC will try to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard
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The Federal Trade Commission is set to file for an injunction seeking to block Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
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The FTC had already sued to block the $68.7 billion acquisition, choosing to bring the case before its internal administrative law judge.
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By filing for an injunction, the FTC is seeking to stop the acquisition from going through before the deal’s July 18 deadline.
The Federal Trade Commission is set to file for an injunction on Monday seeking to block Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard , a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
By filing for an injunction, the FTC is seeking to stop the acquisition from going through before the deal’s July 18 deadline.
The FTC had already sued to block the $68.7 billion acquisition, choosing to bring the case before its internal administrative law judge. Through that trial-like process, the ALJ would make an initial decision that could be appealed to the full commission for a vote. After that, Microsoft could appeal to a federal court should the decision not go its way. The case is set to go before the ALJ in August.
An appeal of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s decision to block the merger is also scheduled to take place this summer shortly after the acquisition deadline.
“We welcome the opportunity to present our case in federal court,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said. “We believe accelerating the legal process in the U.S will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the market.”
Shares of Microsoft and Activision were roughly flat Monday afternoon.
Dammit. I want that merger to go through finally. That seems to be the best bet for getting CoD and Diablo into GeForce Now (or XBox Cloud Gaming if necessary). Since Activision Blizzard seem to have a stick up their ass in that regard, Microsoft would bring some fresh wind.
Me too. Honestly, Microsoft seems to be in a pretty distant third place in the console wars, so the antitrust concerns don’t make a lot of sense to me. Even if Microsoft did make CoD Xbox exclusive, I don’t think that would be that big of a deal for Sony and Nintendo, as they have countless other draws.
Additionally, I too think Blizzard is a shit company and there’s nowhere to go but up under new ownership.
Wish granted. Microsoft are now sunsetting the COD and Diablo franchises to eliminate competition for their own IPs.
Monkey’s paw curls. Now you have to subscribe to Microsoft Game Pass ™ to access any activision blizzard game catalog.
Am I the only one hoping this doesn’t go through? Like, I don’t like how hard MS is pushing for everything to be a service. Not to say gamepass isn’t a good deal, I just don’t want the every big game they put out to be some drip feed Skinner box like Halo Infinite.
Thank god. Further consolidation is bad, regardless of which evil company is doing it.
Never Ending Story playing in the background
Thank God. If there’s one company that needs to continue existing it’s Activision Blizzard. They deserve to continue sexually harassing their employees, and force endless crunch. This management team must continue to be entrenched in the industry, so they can continue producing subpar products with predatory pricing.
Way to start the big tech crack down with an issue that impacts consumers, FTC.