The most important obstacle to Microsoft’s purchase of $ 68.7 billion Activision Blizzard has finally disappeared. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officially announced that it has ended the administrative process against this merger. The decision of the institution was shaped that the public interest will be better protected by closing the proceedings. FTC’s long -standing resistance to the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard agreement has thus ended.
The FTC tried to stand against this unification not only before, but also after it was completed. Even when the agreement was officially completed in October 2023, the case was still ongoing. The institution requested a precautionary measures on the allegation that Microsoft could damage competition. However, this request was rejected by the Court of Appeal in recent weeks.
The US Court of Ninth Court of Appeals found the reasons for the FTC inadequate. According to the court, the FTC could not provide a clear and concrete reason for the damage to competition. This not only weakened the commission’s hand, but also accelerated the decision -making process. In this context, FTC closed the case by stating that there is no point in continuing.
Microsoft is satisfied with the developments
The statements from the Microsoft front showed that this development was satisfied. Brad Smith, the chairman of the company, issued a message on social media after the decision. Smith said that this decision was a gain for both players and common sense in Washington. He also thanked FTC for ending the process.
Microsoft’s merger with Activision Blizzard has been recorded as one of the biggest acquisitions in the game world. Activision, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. This means a move that will increase the impact of Microsoft in the game industry. All FTC’s objections were intensified at this point.
In addition, Microsoft is expected to turn to a more aggressive strategy in Game Pass and Cloud Game Services thanks to this merger. It is still controversial whether Activision content will be made special to Microsoft platforms. However, considering the goal of reaching more players of the company, it is not possible that the content is exclusive to Xbox in the short term.
On the other hand, FTC’s termination of the process shows parallel with the previous approval of other regulatory institutions other than the USA. As a result of detailed investigations, the European Union and the United Kingdom convinced that the unification would not disrupt the balances in the market. These decisions were among the factors that weakened FTC’s position.
In addition to all these, the fact that the merger is fully completed has significantly strengthened Microsoft’s hand in the global market. The company not only has more game studio; It is also more competitive in content production, cloud game technologies and platform services.