Microsoft has achieved another significant victory against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its efforts to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The FTC's appeal to halt Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the company responsible for the popular Call of Duty franchise was denied by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. This ruling upholds the July 2023 decision that permitted Microsoft to finalize the deal, which was originally announced in late 2022, according to Reuters. The decision was made by a three-judge panel, effectively ending the FTC's challenge against the acquisition.
The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft has been under intense scrutiny for over three years. Early opposition came from select U.S. Senators who expressed concerns about the ongoing consolidation within the tech industry as Microsoft, the maker of Xbox, continued to expand its portfolio with major acquisitions. Fears that popular franchises like Call of Duty might become exclusive to Microsoft's platforms were alleviated when Microsoft assured that it had no intention of restricting access to these franchises through prolonged exclusivity periods.
Every Video Game Franchise Xbox Owns After Acquiring Activision Blizzard
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Despite ongoing challenges throughout 2023, Microsoft successfully completed its purchase of Activision Blizzard in October of the same year. The FTC's appeal represented a potential late obstacle to normal operations, but with its failure, the FTC's pursuit appears to have come to an end.
For a detailed timeline of Microsoft's journey to finalize the Activision Blizzard acquisition, you can click here.
