Microsoft finally defeats FTC: court confirms legality of $69 billion deal with Activision Blizzard

A year and a half after the high-profile acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, the legal battle with the US Federal Trade Commission seems to have come to an end. The Court of Appeal has finally dismissed the FTC's complaint, confirming that the deal does not violate antitrust laws and does not threaten competition in the gaming market.

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The FTC's attempts to block Microsoft's record-breaking deal with Activision Blizzard have been ongoing since 2022. The regulator insisted that the merger could "harm competition in the dynamic and rapidly growing video game markets", especially in the area of cloud gaming and subscriptions. However, the US courts, as well as regulators in other countries, did not find convincing evidence of this threat.

The final point was made by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which upheld the lower court's decision: The FTC failed to prove that the merger would substantially lessen competition. The court also noted that Microsoft provided public guarantees: the Call of Duty series will remain on PlayStation for at least 10 years, and Activision games will be available on various cloud services.

Now the FTC can only appeal to the US Supreme Court or resume its own administrative proceedings, which were suspended in 2023. However, with new leadership at the agency and political changes in Washington, the FTC's priorities are likely to shift.

For Microsoft, this decision was the final victory: the company has already felt the financial effect of the deal - in the first quarter of 2025, Xbox's revenue from content and services increased by 61% thanks to the integration of Activision Blizzard.

Source: The Verge