UPDATED: Microsoft wins case against FTC, can now legally buy Activision Blizzard

UPDATE: 7/13/2023: The FTC has filed an appeal over the ruling of denying the preliminary injunction. Basically, Microsoft isn't quite out of the woods yet. We will continue to watch this story evolve as it happens.

After months of debates and arguments, Microsoft is celebrating yet another major victory today, this time against the FTC, in its crusade to purchase Activision Blizzard.

For those who don’t know what’s been happening, over the past couple of years, Activision Blizzard became a hot topic when it came to the video game industry’s “me too” movement. The scandal went as far as requiring entirely established characters to need name changes due to who they were originally named after. 

We don’t need to get into all the details on all of it, as so many before us already have. We recommend reading into it on Forbes or AP News or The New York Times. It’s a lot and it’s a mess.

In the end, Microsoft agreed to buy Activision Blizzard. Then, it became an uphill battle for Microsoft to prove that they were not just trying to build a monopoly in the video game market.

They’ve had to figure this out with the European Union back in May already. But, in their battle against the FTC here in America, they’ve been revealing a lot of their vulnerabilities. 

For instance, they’ve claimed the title of “Console War Loser”, and even (allegedly) outing future PlayStation hardware to prove their points. But, today, the Judge for the case, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, gave her final verdict.

In her final ruling, Judge Corley stated:

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services. This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED. 

Microsoft won. The merger likely begins soon. While we wait for more news on that, you should see what is coming to the Xbox in July.

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