2023-07-12 02:55:49
After a long trial, a judge in California officially allowed Microsoft to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which means rejecting the antitrust view of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The judge stated in the ruling that Microsoft has promised publicly and in court that the “Decisive Moment” series will maintain the same status on PS and XBOX in the next 10 years, and will also bring this series to Switch. There are also several deals signed to bring Activision Blizzard games to multiple cloud services.
The ruling also stated that the court believed that the FTC failed to show how vertical mergers in this industry resulted in less competition, but instead the evidence pointed to more players having access to the content of the final moment and Activision Blizzard, so the request for disposition was rejected. In addition, the court agreed with the FTC that the console market does not include personal computers.
Both Microsoft President Brad Smith and Xbox head Phil Spencer expressed their gratitude for this, and Phil Spencer also said by the way that the FTC’s allegations regarding the game console market, game subscription services and cloud do not conform to the current market situation.
Our statement on today’s decision: pic.twitter.com/jRDD8PhBeT
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) July 11, 2023
1/We’re grateful to the court for swiftly deciding in our favor. The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry and the FTC’s claims regarding console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don’t reflect the realities of the gaming market.
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 11, 2023
On the other hand, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick also stated in a statement that the merger will benefit employees and players, and will promote competition, rather than allowing entrenched leaders to continue to dominate the market.
The FTC does not seem to have given up completely, saying in a statement that they are disappointed with the verdict but are still planning their next move. They will continue to fight to protect competition and protect consumers.
The judge allowed Microsoft to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by July 18, but only if Microsoft was willing to do the deal in the UK. Because the United Kingdom is currently the only major market that opposes the deal, that is, the United States hopes that Microsoft must reach a certain degree of negotiation with the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Microsoft is currently appealing the decision, with a hearing scheduled for July 28. But the latest progress is that the two parties are willing to stop the legal offense and defense, and see if they can be resolved through negotiation.
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