It would seem the saga of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is on its way to its end. Following the FTC’s injunction against the merger and the trial that revealed several behind-the-scenes tidbits including the upcoming Indiana Jones game will be an Xbox and PC exclusive, Microsoft acquired Zenimax to keep Starfield from Sony and PlayStation, SIE President & CEO Jim Ryan claimed that many publishers find Xbox Game Pass to be “value destructive, and Phil Spencer’s intention to make all upcoming Zenimax titles going forward Xbox exclusive, a verdict has been reached. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley has denied the FTC’s preliminary injunction, ruling in favor of Microsoft.
“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history,” Judge Corley said in the ruling. “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.”
“We are disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services, and consoles,” FTC spokesperson Douglass Farrar said in a statement. “In the coming days we’ll be announcing our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers.”
Microsoft President Brad Smith said “We’re grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution. As we’ve demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns.” The head of Xbox Phil Spencer released his reaction to the verdict on Twitter.
“Our merger will benefit consumers and workers. It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry,” Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick said.
Following the verdict, Smith also addressed its situation with the UK’s Competition Markets Authority (CMA) which blocked the deal earlier this year. A hearing was set for later this month on July 28 and will conclude on August 4.
The CMA said it’s “ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns set out in our final report.”