Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens, new soft media friends 2xrpri, OC_Formula, Mr. Aviation for the delivery of clues! CTOnews.com, July 11 (Xinhua) Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been subject to an antitrust lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the United States, but after five days of intense trial, California judge Jacqueline Scott Jacqueline Scott Corley rejected FTC's preliminary injunction request, allowing Microsoft to complete the deal.

Activision Blizzard, which owns well-known game brands such as World of Warcraft, call of Duty and Candy Crush Legend, announced in January last year that Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for $69 billion (CTOnews.com Note: about 498.87 billion yuan), the largest M & A deal in the gaming industry's history.

Arguing that the deal would hurt competition in the gaming market and weaken innovation and consumer choice, FTC filed a preliminary injunction request with the court in March in an attempt to prevent Microsoft from completing the deal by the July 18 deadline. However, after hearing testimony and arguments from both sides, Judge Corley concluded that FTC did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the deal would significantly reduce competition. On the contrary, documented evidence showed that more consumers had access to call of Duty and other Activision content, so FTC's request was rejected.

After Judge Corley's decision, Microsoft President Brad Smith (Brad Smith) issued a statement saying he thanked "the San Francisco court for this quick and thorough decision" and hoped that other countries would take action to resolve the problems Microsoft faced in acquiring Activision Blizzard.

Activision Blizzard also responded to the decision. "our merger will benefit consumers and workers," Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Bobby Kotick said in a statement. "it will promote competition, rather than allowing entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our fast-growing industry."

Although Microsoft won the case in the US, it still faces opposition from the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Microsoft is appealing against a move by British regulators in April to prevent Microsoft from completing the acquisition, and the appeal hearing will begin on July 28. EU regulators approved the deal in May.

FTC now has the opportunity to appeal the court's decision, but it has not previously appealed the court's decision to allow Meta to buy Within, so it may also drop lawsuits against Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. If the court order remains unchanged, it would be the second major defeat since Lina Khan, the chairman of the FTC, was confirmed as head of the agency in 2021.

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