The US Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied the Federal Trade Commission’s latest request to stay Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, likely paving the way for gaming’s largest-ever merger after more than a year of regulatory saga finally progressing.
The FTC had wanted the takeover to be put on hold a July 18 deadline while appealing a decision by the Northern District of California that sided with Microsoft. It was the antitrust agency’s last chance to stop the historic $69 billion merger that has seen major gaming franchises like call of Duty
Regulators argued the federal court ignored evidence that Microsoft had a legitimate incentive to potentially make those franchises exclusive to its console and cloud gaming platforms to capture the market. Microsoft in turn accused the FTC of using delaying tactics and undercutting a massive $3 billion break-up fee that Microsoft would have to pay to Activision if the deal didn’t go through for whatever reason.
The Ninth Circuit will continue to process this appeal, however denied the FTC’s request
It’s been a long, twisty road to this point, including abroad in the UK, the only country to have blocked the deal so far. That country’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had rejected the merger on the grounds that it would give Microsoft too much of an advantage in the nascent cloud gaming market.
However, following the FTC’s first court defeat earlier this week, the CMA announced that it did negotiate with Microsoft again about new ways to solve the cartel conflicts. The company has now extended its final deadline for deal approval to August, suggesting it’s ready to accept the tech giant’s recent concessions.
While nothing is final until it is final, it now looks like Microsoft’s shocking acquisition of one of the world’s largest game makers is about to become a reality, and in the process may soon have the potential to completely reshape the video game landscape. Or maybe Xbox owners just get a bunch more free games in Game Pass. We will see.