Microsoft may continue with the acquisition of game producer Activision Blizzard. The US federal trade watchdog FTC filed a request last month to block the acquisition worth $ 69 billion (65.3 billion euros), because it would lead to unfair competition in the market. The federal US judge has that request rejected on Tuesday. The regulator can still appeal.
According to the court, it is not yet sufficiently known what the consequences of the takeover will be for competition in the market. The FTC fears that Activision Blizzard games will become more expensive or will no longer be available on game consoles from Microsoft’s competitors, such as Nintendo. Microsoft itself has the game console Xbox in its ranks.
Activision Blizzard is known for games such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush and Guitar Hero and has nearly 370 million monthly active users. If the acquisition goes through, it would be Microsoft’s largest purchase in the tech company’s history. That is by no means a certainty, because the British competition authority is still uncooperative for the time being.
Read also: The disruptive transitional phase in which the gaming sector finds itself