US Court Upholds Microsoft's $68.7 Billion Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

A United States appeals court has rejected the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) challenge to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, valued at $68.7 billion. According to a report by Bloomberg, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has once again ruled in favor of Microsoft, upholding the decision made by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in 2023 to deny the FTC's request to block the acquisition. The FTC had attempted to prevent the acquisition, announced in January 2022, due to concerns over Microsoft's potential dominance in cloud gaming. However, the court has now determined that the FTC failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the acquisition would likely reduce competition in the relevant markets. The ruling states that the district court applied the correct legal standards and did not abuse its discretion in holding that the FTC failed to make a sufficient evidentiary showing. The court also noted that all major game manufacturers, including Nintendo and Sony, engage in the practice of first-party exclusives, with both Nintendo and Sony having a significantly higher number of exclusive games on their platforms than Microsoft. Both Microsoft and the FTC have declined to comment on the ruling, which may still be appealed to the Supreme Court. The outcome of this case may impact an ongoing administrative trial in the FTC's in-house court, which was suspended pending the result of this appeal.