US judge rules Microsoft can close $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - A US judge ruled Tuesday in favor of Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard.

"Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny," Federal Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley from the state of California said in her ruling.

"Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services," she added.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in June applied for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking to block the acquisition, arguing that the deal would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors against its Xbox gaming consoles, its subscription content and cloud-gaming business.

"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," said Corley.

If closed, the agreement would be the biggest acquisition in Microsoft's history and for the video game industry.