{"id":69143,"date":"2023-07-15T02:56:45","date_gmt":"2023-07-15T01:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/featured-news\/activision-microsoft-set-to-merge-after-ftc-fails-to-stop-deal\/"},"modified":"2023-07-15T02:56:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-15T01:56:45","slug":"activision-microsoft-set-to-merge-after-ftc-fails-to-stop-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pley2win.com\/?p=69143","title":{"rendered":"Activision, Microsoft Set To Merge After FTC Fails To Stop Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s final request to pause Microsoft\u2019s takeover of Activision Blizzard, likely paving the way for the biggest-ever merger in gaming to finally move forward after a more than year-long regulatory saga. <\/p>\n

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The Open World Racing Game That’s Been Gone For A Decade Is Coming Back<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The FTC had sought to have the acquisition kept on hold ahead<\/span> of a July 18 deadline while appealing a ruling from the Northern District of California that sided with Microsoft. It was the antitrust agency\u2019s last chance to stop the historic $69 billion merger that would see major gaming franchises like Call of Duty<\/em>, World of Warcraft<\/em>, and Candy Crush<\/em> all become an extension of Xbox. <\/p>\n

Regulators argued that the federal court had ignored evidence that Microsoft would have reasonable incentive to potentially make those franchises exclusives to its console and cloud gaming platforms in order to corner the market. Microsoft in turn blamed the FTC for using delay tactics<\/span> and underselling a massive $3 billion breakup fee Microsoft would have to pay to Activision if the deal ended up not going through for some reason. <\/p>\n

The Ninth Circuit will still handle that appeal, but denied the FTC\u2019s motion<\/a><\/span> to block the merger until that ruling was made, giving Microsoft the greenlight to close its deal on July 17. <\/p>\n