As reported by Reuters, the preliminary hearing Due to a dispute between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Microsoft regarding thisAcquisition of Activision Blizzard It’s set for Tuesday January 3, 2023.
As you know, the US Antitrust has every intention of preventing the move and, to do so, has decided to file a lawsuit against Redmon. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard would grant Xbox exclusive access to some of the most powerful franchises on the market, mainly Call of Duty, hurt competition in the console market and limit or block certain games and content. . on Sony and Nintendo PlayStation platforms.
Microsoft responded by saying the move would benefit gamers and game companies and is willing to sign a legally binding agreement with the FTC committing to releasing Call of Duty on competing consoles for ten years.
Microsoft’s concessions are one of the main reasons many market analysts believe avoiding an Activision Blizzard acquisition won’t be easy for the FTC. In the meantime, the decisions of the English Antimonopoly (CMA) and of the European Union are also awaited which, in the event of a negative outcome, could definitively jeopardize the manoeuvre.
In any case, next week’s preliminary hearing could be the first in a long series of steps before arriving at a final ruling in court. Microsoft aims to complete the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by End of June 2023but the times could lengthen precisely because of this legal action by the Federal Trade Commission.
