Microsoft wins court battle allowing Activision Blizzard deal to proceed in U.S.
Microsoft has prevailed in the court case against its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, where it had to defend the impact it would have on competition in the video game industry.
Video Games Chronicle spotted that today (July 11), the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction was not necessary. The FTC had asked for the injunction in order to let its in-house court discern the full effects that the acquisition would have on the consumer.
“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox,” said Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in their statement. “It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services.”
“This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted perhaps even terminated pending resolution of the FIC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition,” continued Corley.
“To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore denied.”
Microsoft’s intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7billion (£53.3billion) was announced in early 2022. If successful in its acquisition, Microsoft would own Activision, Blizzard Entertainment and King as well as the rights to Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush.
Today’s ruling allows the corporation to close ahead of the July 18 mandate, however, it still must contend with the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom. According to The Verge, Microsoft will make its case against the CMA on July 28. Additionally, the FTC is able to appeal Judge Corley’s ruling as long as it does so ahead of July 14.
Communications Workers of America, an organisation that was involved with unionisation efforts within Activision Blizzard, praised the injunction’s denial and Microsoft’s stance on labour neutrality within ABK.
Moreover, Microsoft president Brad Smith said the company was “grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution.”
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Imogen Donovan
NME
