US government case against Microsoft to take over Activision Blizzard begins Tuesday – Gaming – News

Tuesday is the first hearing in US regulator FTC’s lawsuit against Microsoft over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The FTC asks the court to stop the acquisition of the game publisher.

It is the first hearing of the case, but it is not clear when the US judge will hear the substance of the case, reports Reuters. With the case, the Federal Trade Commission wants to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The regulator fears, among other things, that Microsoft will only make Activision Blizzard games available for its own Xbox consoles or will only allow games on other platforms at a later date, such as Sony’s PlayStation console. “Microsoft has already demonstrated that it can and will hold back content from gaming competitors,” the FTC said.

Microsoft denies in responses that it will only release games on Xbox after the acquisition and says the acquisition primarily revolves around the mobile gaming market, where the software giant has so far played a marginal role. Activision Blizzard has games like Candy Crush in its lineup and is a big name in the field of mobile gaming.

The acquisition has been approved in Chile, but market authorities in other countries have objections. In the UK and EU, among others, authorities are investigating the possible consequences of the takeover. Microsoft is looking to acquire the game publisher for $68.7 billion in what would be the largest game acquisition to date. The companies announced the deal last year.