FTC Drops Case Over Microsoft’s $69 Billion Activision Blizzard Deal-OxBig News Network

The US Federal Trade Commission dropped a case that sought to block Microsoft’s $69 billion (roughly Rs. 5,91,491 crore) buy of “Call of Duty” maker Activision Blizzard, saying on Thursday that pursuing the case towards the long-closed deal was not within the public curiosity.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson is in search of to make use of the company’s sources for circumstances that match with President Donald Trump’s agenda, resembling a probe associated as to whether advertisers colluded to spend much less on X first reported by Reuters on Thursday.

Ferguson is starting to close down some efforts began by his predecessor Lina Khan, together with dropping a case on Thursday that had accused PepsiCo of value discrimination that favored Walmart.

The FTC misplaced an attraction on May 7 in search of to reverse a decide’s resolution declining to dam the Microsoft–Activision deal, which closed in 2023.

Microsoft President Brad Smith mentioned on Thursday that the FTC’s resolution to drop the case was “a victory for gamers throughout the nation and for frequent sense in Washington, D.C.”

When difficult a brand new merger, the FTC sometimes asks a decide to briefly block the deal to present the company time to problem it in its personal administrative court docket. But offers which can be briefly blocked are sometimes deserted.

Though the FTC misplaced its case in search of to dam the deal briefly, the company might have sought to unwind the acquisition at a trial that was scheduled for July.

The Activision Blizzard transaction marked the largest-ever acquisition within the video gaming market. The FTC claimed the tie-up would enable Microsoft to fend off rivals to the Xbox console and to its subscription and cloud-based gaming enterprise.

© Thomson Reuters 2025

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