Microsoft wins appeal in FTC challenge to $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal

Time of India

08-05-2025

HighlightsThe 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's ruling, allowing Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard to proceed without a preliminary injunction from the Federal Trade Commission. The Federal Trade Commission's legal challenge, which was filed in 2022, argued that the merger would reduce competition in the video game market, but the court found insufficient evidence to support this claim. The acquisition, which is the largest in the video gaming industry, was also scrutinized by competition authorities in the United Kingdom and other international markets before being finalized in late 2023.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected a legal challenge by the
Federal Trade Commission
to
Microsoft
's $69 billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker
Activision Blizzard
.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower judge's order that said the FTC was not entitled to a preliminary injunction blocking the deal, which closed in 2023.
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled that the lower judge had applied the correct legal standards and said the FTC had not shown it was likely to succeed on its claims that the merger would restrict competition.
A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment. Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision came in an
antitrust lawsuit
filed by the Federal Trade Commission in 2022 against Xbox maker Microsoft.
The FTC, which enforces antitrust law, separately challenged the merger in an internal administrative action. That proceeding was placed on hold in 2023 during President Joe Biden's administration, pending the 9th Circuit's decision.
The Activision Blizzard transaction marked the largest-ever acquisition in the video gaming market. The deal closed in late 2023 after competition authorities in the UK approved it. The purchase also faced regulatory scrutiny in other
international
markets.
The FTC's lawsuit sought an order freezing the Activision transaction while the agency pursued its administrative challenge.
The agency claimed the Microsoft-Activision tie-up would allow the merged company to fend off competitors to the Xbox console and to its subscription and cloud-based gaming business.
US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley had refused to block the acquisition in July 2023, finding that the FTC had not shown Microsoft's ownership of Activision would "substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and
cloud gaming
markets."
The FTC argued in its appeal that the court applied an overly stringent standard in weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction.