FTC drops challenge to Microsoft’s $69 billion activision deal
In a statement Thursday, Microsoft President Brad Smith called the FTC’s decision “a victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C.”
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially dropped its case opposing Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, closing a key chapter in one of the biggest mergers in gaming history.
The deal, which closed in 2023, faced resistance from regulators over concerns it would give Microsoft unfair control over top gaming titles like Call of Duty and stifle competition in cloud and subscription gaming. But a federal judge declined to block the transaction, and the FTC lost its appeal on May 7, as per a report by Reuters.
In a statement Thursday, Microsoft President Brad Smith called the FTC’s decision “a victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C.”
Shift in FTC Strategy Under Ferguson The case was one of several initiated under former FTC Chair Lina Khan, who pursued aggressive antitrust enforcement. But current Chair Andrew Ferguson is reportedly scaling back on some of those efforts, in line with former President Donald Trump’s policy agenda, including ending probes such as the FTC’s price discrimination case against PepsiCo.
By dropping the Microsoft-Activision case, the FTC signaled a pivot toward new priorities, including a fresh investigation into advertiser behavior on X (formerly Twitter).
While the FTC had the option to pursue an administrative trial to unwind the deal this July, it concluded that doing so would no longer serve the public interest.
The Microsoft–Activision deal remains the largest-ever acquisition in the video gaming sector, reshaping the industry’s competitive landscape and significantly boosting Microsoft’s content portfolio.
