FTC launches lawsuit to stop Activision Blizzard buyout, Microsoft to take case to court

The story behind Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard continues to get better and better. In this new chapter, it is now one of the U.S. regulatory commissions that is making its move on the board.

The Federal Trade Commission announced through a press release on its website that it will seek to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard. Within this document, the government agency discloses the motives behind its administrative complaint, stating that this acquisition “ would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.”

“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”

In response to this move, Microsoft has given a short but clear response to the FTC. “We continue to believe that this deal will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers,” tweeted Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president. “While we believed in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.”

A not so easy purchase

Microsoft's pursuit of Activison Blizzard began earlier this year, and a lot has happened. As the largest purchase by Redmon's company and the largest in the video game industry, it was going to take a lot of work, or at least close to 18 months, as estimated from the beginning to its investors.

Ever since Microsoft announced the purchase of Activision Blizzard, the company has been faced with direct opposition from Sony, who has roused the attention of antitrust organizations to investigate the deal. Meanwhile, the company founded by Bill Gates has been trying to convince PlayStation that they’ll be fine, offering an additional decade of guaranteed Call of Duty on its consoles. According to Phil Spencer, the franchise will continue to launch on PS4 and PS5 as long as the players want it. Just this week, Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, pledged, should the acquisition go through, to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles and other platforms.

It is worth mentioning that of the 3 key regulatory agencies reviewing the case around the world, the FTC is the first to make a decision on the acquisition.

Source | FTC, Brad Smith