The ruling was pronounced by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco, allowing Microsoft to close its merger with Activision ahead of a July 18 deadline everywhere except for the UK, which vetoed the deal in May.
“This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action.”
For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition.
“To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.”
Impact
The ruling would allow Microsoft to have control over popular franchises such as “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft” and “Diablo.”
The US anti-trust body, Federal Trade Commission, had opposed the merger saying that the deal could video gamers by giving Microsoft control over a number of hugely popular franchises.
The regulators wanted Judge Corley for an injunction to prevent the deal from closing until the agency’s in-house court had reached a decision on the deal.
Microsoft-Activision: $69bn deal temporarily blocked in US
Microsoft reacts
Following the deal, Microsoft president Brad Smith said that the tech firm was “grateful to the Court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution.”
Xbox head Phil Spencer, a key witness in the trial, also tweeted his reaction saying, “We’re grateful to the court for swiftly deciding in our favour.”
“The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry and the FTC’s claims about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don’t reflect the realities of the gaming market,” he said.
FTC ‘disappointed’
Meanwhile, FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar expressed disappointment with the verdict and added that it was planning its next move.
“We are disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services, and consoles. In the coming days we’ll be announcing our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers,” Farrar said in a statement.
