FTC plans to sue to block Microsoft’s $69 billion deal for Activision

By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com -- The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it was planning to sue to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard, citing anti-competition concerns.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) was up 1%, while Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) dropped more than 2%.

“Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets,” the FTC said in a statement.

The FTC alleged that the acquisition would enable Microsoft to “suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.”

Activision creates well-known video games including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch for multiple devices, but the FTC believes that Microsoft may move to make the video game maker’s top titles Microsoft exclusives.

The trade watchdog pointed to Microsoft’s previous history of acquiring gaming content to stop competition from rival consoles including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of game developer Bethesda Softworks.

Following the acquisition of ZeniMax, Microsoft made several of Bethesda’s titles including Starfield and Redfall exclusively for Microsoft despite assuring European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles.