FTC to Potentially Appeal Ruling Against $69 Billion Microsoft Acquisition with Blizzard

After Microsoft won the fight to buy Activision Blizzard, the US Federal Trade Commission could potentially appeal the ruling against the bid to block Microsoft's acquisition.

Expecting to File an Appeal

There are indications that the US Federal Trade Commission is expected to pursue an appeal following a federal judge's decision that rejected the agency's attempt to prevent Microsoft Corp.'s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. As per Bloomberg's report, this could be filed as Wednesday.

As of the moment, no final decision from the agency has been reached and filed. But experts say that this will not be impossible to happen knowing how strongly opposed FTC is to this decision. The ruling was issued after a hearing at which executives from Microsoft and Activision testified.

In a statement released by the agency, FTC Spokesperson Douglas Farra stated, "We are disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services, and consoles. In the coming days, we'll be announcing our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers."

Approving the Acquisition

Reuters reported that US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, who currently presides in San Francisco, ruled in favor of Microsoft by stating that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) failed to demonstrate that the merger between Microsoft and Activision would negatively impact competition in the gaming industry.

Additionally, she extended a temporary restraining order that prevents Microsoft from finalizing the deal until midnight on Friday, based on US West Coast time. To extend this pause, FTC will be needed to seek an emergency stay from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Siding with Microsoft

Based on this ruling, The Verge reported that Judge Corley clearly sided with Microsoft on its commitment to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation and even extend the game to Nintendo Switch. Despite the cloud arguments between Microsoft and the agency, the judge took these into consideration and decided to approve the acquisition.

Following this decision, Microsoft President Brad Smith shared his gratefulness to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision, hoping that other jurisdictions will continue to work towards a timely resolution.

Xbox Head Phil Spencers also rejoiced at this decision and stated, "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 about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don't reflect the realities of the gaming market."

Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick stated that the company's merger will benefit consumers and workers with this recent decision. Through this, market competition will be enabled rather than allowing entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate the growing industry.