the U.S. Federal Trade Commission may file antitrust lawsuits to stop Microsoft from pursuing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard is said to be high. the FTC’s operations, who said FTC investigative staff were “skeptical” of the company’s claims.
It’s not guaranteed, though, and the FTC Commissioner said he hasn’t met with Microsoft and Activision’s attorneys, nor has he coordinated any formal complaints.
The FTC, under current chairman Lina Khan, has pledged to crack down on mergers and acquisitions by already big tech companies by joining Nvidia’s failed ARM acquisition attempt. The FTC launched an investigation earlier this year when a deal between Microsoft and Activision was announced.
Microsoft’s possible acquisition of Activision is probably the hottest topic in gaming news this year, and depending on who you listen to, it’s either a dramatic change in how video games do business or a relatively small force between the big three. will be one of the changes in Game machine maker. However, the FTC’s litigation is large, and while these arguments are being considered, the deal may take longer to complete or may not complete at all.
While Microsoft’s lawyers have generally argued that a single game series can neither make nor break a game console, Sony recently told the UK’s competition regulator that rival franchise Battlefield is out of Activision’s arsenal. Call of said it “cannot compete” with Tariffs.
It was also recently revealed that Microsoft has struck a 10-year deal with Sony to ensure Call of Duty will be available on PlayStation consoles. At worst, that would give Sony a pretty long runway to develop its own suitable mission contender – but Sony doesn’t have much to say publicly about it.