The San Francisco-based ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decrease choose’s order that stated the FTC was not entitled to a preliminary injunction blocking the deal, which closed in 2023.
A 3-judge panel unanimously dominated that the decrease choose had utilized the right authorized requirements and stated the FTC had not proven it was prone to succeed on its claims that the merger would prohibit competitors.
A spokesperson for the FTC declined to remark. Microsoft didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The determination got here in an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in 2022 in opposition to Xbox maker Microsoft.
The FTC, which enforces antitrust legislation, individually challenged the merger in an inside administrative motion. That continuing was positioned on maintain in 2023 throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, pending the ninth Circuit’s determination.
The Activision Blizzard transaction marked the largest-ever acquisition within the video gaming market. The deal closed in late 2023 after competitors authorities within the UK authorised it. The buy additionally confronted regulatory scrutiny in different worldwide markets.
The FTC’s lawsuit sought an order freezing the Activision transaction whereas the company pursued its administrative problem.
The company claimed the Microsoft-Activision tie-up would permit the merged firm to fend off rivals to the Xbox console and to its subscription and cloud-based gaming enterprise.
US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley had refused to dam the acquisition in July 2023, discovering that the FTC had not proven Microsoft’s possession of Activision would “considerably reduce competitors within the online game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.”
The FTC argued in its enchantment that the courtroom utilized an excessively stringent commonplace in weighing whether or not to grant a preliminary injunction.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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