FTC loses appeal to break up Microsoft – Activision merger

Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard back in late 2023, after fighting off an injunction from the US Federal Trade Commission that threatened to blow up the deal. Since then, the FTC has been appealing the original decision, looking to split Microsoft and Activision up after the fact. Now 18 months on, the FTC has lost its appeal. 

Microsoft will face no more hurdles in its merger with Activision Blizzard. The deal already closed in October 2023 and since then, Microsoft has essentially abandoned its exclusive game efforts, instead opting to publish games on PlayStation, alongside Xbox, PC and Nintendo platforms. This has led to significant revenue gains for Xbox, with a good portion of that growth coming via the Activision catalogue.

In its lawsuit to block the merger, the FTC claimed that Microsoft would make major franchises like Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox, and thus squeezing PlayStation out of the market. Microsoft signed deals with regulators in Europe and the UK, and signed agreements with Sony, to ensure that Call of Duty would not become exclusive, but the FTC forged ahead with its case anyway.

According to the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals, the FTC failed to show that Microsoft would prevent rival companies from gaining access to IPs like Call of Duty. Considering that Microsoft has only increased its multiplatform efforts since the merger went through, that was really the only sensible outcome for the court to reach.

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KitGuru Says: Now that there is no more legal threat to the merger, maybe we can finally see Microsoft ramp up its efforts to restore Activision's back catalogue, including long-lost licensed games like Transformers, Deadpool, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and others. 

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