Microsoft wins the fight to take over Activision Blizzard in the USA. But it’s not over

Microsoft, but due to numerous concerns of antitrust authorities, the case continues to this day. All because, after the purchase, Microsoft would suddenly become one of the three most important entities in the gaming market, which definitely does not like its competitors (primarily Sony). After taking control of titles such as “Call of Duty”, “Overwatch” and “World of Warcraft”, the Windows manufacturer would also control a larger part of the cloud gaming market.

The US court agreed with Microsoft

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had a lot of doubts about the transaction, which tried to obtain a preliminary ban on the purchase of the gaming holding by Microsoft in court. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the San Francisco court heard arguments from both sides, but decided that the regulator’s request was unfounded. This is quite a surprise, because one could expect that the FTC would get its way and block the transaction, at least for some time.

The judge admitted that the acquisition merited investigation and, thanks to numerous inspections by the authorities, Microsoft committed itself to supply the game “Call of Duty” for PlayStation consoles for a decade after the acquisition (Sony feared that Microsoft would close this title only to players using Xbox). Moreover, Microsoft, in cooperation with Nintendo, is to transfer the title to Switch consoles and transfer several other games to cloud gaming services. Given this, the court did not see indications that the US giant was planning to reduce competition in the market, as the FTC believes. On the contrary, the judge considered that Microsoft’s commitments related to the purchase should increase it.

Microsoft said in its statement that it is very pleased with the court’s decision and that the deal to buy Activision Blizzard “is good for the industry.” He added that the FTC’s allegations “do not reflect the realities of the gaming market.” Activision Blizzard said the merger “will benefit consumers and employees,” “enable competition,” and “will not allow established market leaders to continue to dominate our fast-growing industry.” The FTC, in turn, expressed disappointment and reminded that the merger threatens “open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services and consoles” and announced further steps to help block it.

Theoretically, the court ruling allows Microsoft to close the merger before July 18, but only if the giant manages to reach an agreement with the appropriate regulator in the UK by then (which is rather unrealistic). In April, the British blocked the acquisition due to the suspicion that the decision was greatly influenced by Microsoft’s already mentioned promise that it would keep “Call of Duty” on competitor’s consoles for at least 10 years.