Microsoft can move ahead with record $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, judge rules

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said in a ruling that the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust laws, has not shown a likelihood it would prevail if it took the case to trial.

"Our merger will benefit consumers and workers. It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry," Kotick said in a written statement after Tuesday's ruling. The case was an important test for the FTC's heightened scrutiny of the technology industry under Chairperson Lina Khan, who was installed by President Joe Biden in 2021 because of her tough stance on what she sees as monopolistic behavior by tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook parent Meta.

"That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox," she wrote. "It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision's content to several cloud gaming services."

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