After several days of in the court room due to the FTC filing a preliminary injunction against Microsoft in its bid to acquire Activision Blizzard, there was much hesitation as to what would be the judge’s final decision. Now, that decision has been made and its in Microsoft’s favour. The FTC’s injunction has been struck down, giving Microsoft its greatest victory thus far in this long journey to buy Activision Blizzard.
The decision was made by Judge Corley, who stood by Microsoft’s promises to support competing platforms with Activision’s IP, should the deal be closed. Microsoft’s arguments were enough to convince the judge, who denied that it’s trying to gain an unfair advantage over the likes of its biggest rival, Sony and its PlayStation division which has been the market leader for several years.
Victory lap
Following the announcement of the court case win, Microsoft’s Brad Smith, who is the Vice Chair and President, took to Twitter to express the company’s gratitude to the court:
In a statement obtained by The Verge, Activision Blizzard’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, also had a positive a reaction. He states: “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.”
During the hearing, various Microsoft and Sony executives, along with Kotick and members of the FTC argued back and forth as to whether or not this merger would truly be good for the industry.
The FTC even went as far as to try and argue that Nintendo was irrelevant in the discussion, as the Switch is not in the same league of power as the PS5 and Xbox Series systems. Meanwhile, Microsoft argued that Nintendo is very much a competitor and used the success of the Switch to verify why it’s in “third place,” pointing to another reason why it’s seeking to gain a leg up by buying Activision Blizzard.
With all the back-and-forth now over, Microsoft can breathe a little easier, but there’s still more work left.
What next?
UK officials that are a part of the Competition and Markets Authority still have yet to withdraw or alter their own block of the deal which was filed back in April.
Microsoft has been appealing that decision and has another hearing on July 28th. That said, Microsoft has been eyeing the closure of the deal with Activision Blizzard for July 18. Thus, it remains to be seen if the deal will close with the CMA’s block still pending, or if faster moves to come to a resolution will now take place since the FTC’s injunction has been shot down.
In any case, it’s now more likely than ever that the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger will be completed, and soon.
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