2023-07-24 11:21:37
The US competition watchdog FTC is terminating one of the lawsuits relating to the acquisition of the games company Activision Blizzard by Microsoft.
Earlier, an attempt by the FTC to block the $69 billion deal in court failed. The now withdrawn case was brought before an internal court of the FTC. The decision reached might give the controller, Activision and Microsoft more leeway to prepare a compromise.
After his defeat in another lawsuit in San Francisco court, the FTC appealed. But once more, the market authority was defeated, as the appeals judge objected to the FTC’s requirement to suspend the repurchase proceeding until there was a final judgment.
Finding a compromise
The Activision takeover has caused quite a stir because Microsoft has its own game console with the Xbox, and regulators fear Activision’s games will soon be released only for that console. There are also concerns regarding Microsoft becoming too powerful as a cloud gaming provider.
Microsoft has now reached an agreement with Sony, whereby the popular shooter Call of Duty will continue to appear, following the eventual takeover, on the Japanese technology group’s PlayStation consoles. This should help eliminate the fear of disruption of competition among regulators. Last week, Microsoft and Activision also extended the takeover closing deadline to October 18. This gives Microsoft an additional three months to obtain all necessary approvals from regulators. In addition, the parties have agreed that the amount to be paid by Microsoft to Activision, if the agreement is not ratified, will be increased to 3.5 billion dollars instead of 3 billion previously.
1690199226
#FTC #drops #lawsuit #Microsoft #takeover #Activision
