Microsoft has won its court case against the Federal Trade Commission with Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley clearing the company to acquire Activision Blizzard. This decision from Corley comes after several days of testimonies from executives within Activision, Microsoft, and other professionals. Microsoft is not totally in the clear to purchase Activision Blizzard given that it still faces some opposition from other regulators outside of the United States’ FTC, however, but this court case coming to an end makes for a high-profile win in Microsoft’s favor.
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Following the expectation that the result would be revealed this week, The Verge reported on Tuesday that Corley had reached a decision. Though the FTC can always appeal the decision, the next hurdle Microsoft faces is the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority which suggested the acquisition could “harm UK gamers.”
After the decision became public news, the involved parties, largely those in favor of the acquisition, shared various statements.
“We’re grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution,” Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith said. “As we’ve demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns.”
Xbox boss Phil Spencer responded to the decision, too, in a statement that largely echoed the one from Smith. Spencer said “the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry” and referenced the multiple agreements Microsoft has signed with other companies to guarantee access to Activision Blizzard games throughout this ordeal.
The FTC moved to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard mainly because it felt that the company could use Activision’s properties in a way that would lessen competition, namely against PlayStation. Through services offered like Xbox Game Pass, Cloud Gaming, and the ever present idea of console exclusives, there was concern that huge Blizzard properties and Activision’s own behemoth, Call of Duty, would be relegated solely to Xbox platforms. Microsoft tried to alleviate these concerns throughout the trial by doing things like signing agreements with Nintendo and others guaranteeing that Call of Duty would come to Nintendo platforms.
Microsoft’s hearing against the CMA’s attempt to block the acquisition will involve a hearing set to take place on July 28th. The FTC case led to all sorts of interesting updates on different aspects of the gaming industry that wouldn’t have come out otherwise, so perhaps we’ll see more of that outside of the main discussion as Microsoft and Activision Blizzard move towards an acquisition.ย
