Home / Tech News / Featured Tech News / The FTC is suing to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The FTC is suing to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The last week has been a rollercoaster for the gaming industry, as Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has continued to make headlines. A few weeks ago it was reported that the FTC would sue to block the deal, but then a subsequent report claimed that the panel scrutinising the deal had shifted opinion. Now, the FTC has made its official announcement and the commission will in fact be attempting to block the acquisition from going ahead. 

The FTC announced today that it is suing to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, claiming that Microsoft “can and will” withhold content in order to harm competition in the gaming market. Microsoft had tried to avoid this by promising to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation, and also expanding its commitment to keeping the franchise multiplatform by agreeing to bring future titles to Nintendo consoles.

“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”

Microsoft and Activision executives have publicly expressed a willingness to fight regulators on this, so Microsoft might end up entering a legal battle with the US government. The company may also face similar legal issues in the EU and UK, as regulators in those territories are also investigating the deal.

KitGuru Says: Microsoft has not yet issued a public statement on the FTC's decision. When the FTC sued to block Nvidia's acquisition of Arm, the company dropped the deal swiftly, but Microsoft has sounded determined to push this deal through, so we'll have to wait and see what their next move will be. 

Become a Patron!

Check Also

Lost Soul Aside PC system requirements announced

Sony and Ultizero Games have lifted the curtain on the PC requirements for their upcoming …

We've noticed that you are using an ad blocker.

Thank you for visiting KitGuru. Our news and reviews teams work hard to bring you the latest stories and finest, in-depth analysis.

We want to be as informative as possible – and to help our readers make the best buying decisions. The mechanism we use to run our business and pay some of the best journalists in the world, is advertising.

If you want to support KitGuru, then please add www.kitguru.net to your ad blocking whitelist or disable your adblocking software. It really makes a difference and allows us to continue creating the kind of content you really want to read.

It is important you know that we don’t run pop ups, pop unders, audio ads, code tracking ads or anything else that would interfere with the KitGuru experience. Adblockers can actually block some of our free content, such as galleries!