After overcoming the US Federal Trade Commission in court, Microsoft Corp has been given the green light to complete its $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc.
According to San Francisco Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s order, Microsoft and Activision might merge before the July 18 deadline, with the exception of the United Kingdom, which refused the arrangement in May.
Microsoft claims it purchased Activision to expand its presence in the mostly unexplored mobile gaming sector. King, the inventor of Candy Crush, is owned by Activision.
Microsoft argues that the combination will position the firm third among all video game companies globally, after Sony Corp. and Chinese publisher Tencent Holdings Ltd. of League of Legends.
Activision’s stock rose as much as 6% in response to the announcement; at 11:08 a.m. in New York, it was up 4.4% to $86.31. Microsoft lost $330.06, or less than 1% of its entire revenue.
“We’re pleased to the court in San Francisco for this rapid and thorough decision,” Microsoft President Brad Smith stated.
“As we’ve shown consistently through this process, we are dedicated to working creatively and cooperatively to address regulation concerns,” he continued.
According to Bloomberg Law, Activision stated that the agreement will benefit both customers and workers.
The combination “will enable competition instead of allowing established market leaders to continue to control our rapidly growing industry,” said Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.
“We are disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat that this combination poses to open competitors in cloud gaming, subscription-based services, and consoles,” said FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar in an email.
“In the coming days, we’ll be revealing our next step in our fight to maintain competition and protect customers,” he continued.
During a June hearing, the Federal Trade Commission said that Microsoft’s purchase of Activision would hinder competition since the combined business would have an incentive to keep popular titles like the best-selling shooting game Call of Duty off competitor systems and subscription services.
Lina Khan, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has filed a lawsuit targeting tech platform mergers, including Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, as part of her strong enforcement of merger restrictions since being nominated by Biden.
Furthermore, with the purchase of Activision Blizzard’s Candy Crush and Call of Duty Mobile, Microsoft’s mobile gaming footprint is projected to grow.
Critics, however, have expressed worry that Microsoft may harm competitors by restricting access to blockbuster titles or publishing more games solely for Xbox and PC.
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