After a long battle between the FTC and Microsoft in an attempt to stop the latter’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it seems that the very first phase has been cleared.
Ruled by California judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in favor of Team Green in the console gaming context, the decision is highlighted by Microsoft’s repeated stance in allowing cross-platform publishing of Activision Blizzard titles.
CEO Phil Spencer, on the other hand, expressed the fruits of the efforts made to convince FTC about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud gaming.
1/We're grateful to the court for swiftly deciding in our favor. The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry and the FTC’s claims about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don’t reflect the realities of the gaming market.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 11, 2023
Head of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick further supported the movement of the merger that will “enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.”
But not all is sunshine and rainbows from now on as Microsoft still has UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to face as the “2nd boss”.
Set to appeal from July 28 to August 4 to the original block back in May, the FTC still has one last “ace card” up its sleeve with the antitrust injunction filed back in June.
