FTC appeal of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is rejected
After appealing 2023's court decision, the FTC has received further rejection in its attempt to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Today, another nail in the coffin of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s attempts to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was hammered in. If you have been keeping up with video game news over the last few years, you have likely heard about Microsoft’s utterly enormous purchase of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. This deal initially went through in October 2023 after a California court ruled it lawful. Today’s news comes as the FTC’s appeal of the 2023 decision has ultimately been rejected.
FTC appeal to block Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard blocked
The FTC was concerned that Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard would limit gaming competition. According to Bloomberg, the judges did not find this a problem. “The agency failed to show that Microsoft would have cut off rivals seeking access to Activision’s Call of Duty game or that it would have substantially lessened competition in the gaming subscription market, the appeals court said.” The FTC’s original concerns about exclusivity on the Xbox platform were also addressed, with the courts saying, “All major manufacturers have engaged in this practice… both [Nintendo and Sony] have a significantly higher number of exclusive games on their platform than [Microsoft] does.” This seems to be even more true now, as more and more previously exclusive Xbox titles make the jump, like this week’s Gears of War: Reloaded being the first in the series to arrive on PlayStation 5 this summer.
This news is probably surprising to hear now. We have lived in a world where Microsoft has owned a huge piece of the gaming industry for over a year. The fallout of Xbox’s acquisition spree is everywhere, no pun intended. This is why last year’s Xbox Summer Showcase featured a deep dive into the Activision-owned game, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
But even more recently, think about when The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered dropped a few weeks ago. That was very much an Xbox-branded event. Sure, Bethesda and Virtuos were front and center in that announcement video, but that was a major opportunity for people who had lapsed out of playing video games to learn about Xbox Game Pass. For a long time, some gamers have lamented that the console wars are over and that Xbox has lost. But they are making some impressive moves.
While Xbox’s console sales have steadily declined, there has been growth in digital markets. PC Game Pass has grown significantly, and Xbox Studio games have made Xbox the number one publisher on the PlayStation Store. There are also rumors about an Xbox partnered handheld device releasing sometime soon, which could be a test run for a future Xbox-branded device.
If Xbox can continue to provide great reasons to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass and encourage more people to jump into their ecosystem, they could set themselves up nicely for the future. Hardware might not seem like a priority right now, but after a few years, that could easily change.
