It finally happened! After an arduous battle with the FTC and Sony, Microsoft can finally go ahead with the Activision Blizzard merger as initially planned. This is quite a surprising turn of events considering the tough road thus far, as the recent revelations of Microsoft’s intentions to “spend Sony out of business” have gone by the wayside, and all anti-competitive arguments are now moot.
The judge that presided over the case, Scott Corley, heard both sides of the discussion and chose to deny the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction. This doesn’t mean that Microsoft is completely out of the woods yet, but this was the main hurdle Microsoft had to deal with. The company still has another antitrust case by the FTC, but it will likely also go to team green.
The Judge’s Reasoning Over Why the Microsoft Activision Blizzard Deal Should Go On
The judge said this is one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of not just gaming, but technology as a whole. And it deserves the scrutiny it is getting. But at the same time, the scrutiny “paid off,” as Microsoft is now planning on putting Call of Duty on the Nintendo Switch while saying, under oath, that it will keep putting the biggest Activision games on Sony’s consoles as well as Nintendo’s, even if Sony doesn’t share future console information.
Phil Spencer was very pleased with the news, and Brad Smith, the President of Microsoft, also reacted to the decision quickly after it went public via Twitter:
Our statement on today's decision: pic.twitter.com/jRDD8PhBeT
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) July 11, 2023
Douglas Farrar, the spokesperson for the FTC, expressed his disappointment over the judge siding with Microsoft and said they’re still planning their next move to preserve competition and protect consumers. Sony will definitely not be happy about this, but this is all part of how the industry works.
