FTC Goes to Court to Block Microsoft’s Activision Buy

The FTC filed suit Monday to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buy, seeking both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to enjoin Microsoft from consummating the transaction. The redacted complaint (docket 3:23-cv-02880) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco said both remedies were necessary because Microsoft and Activision have “represented” that they may consummate the deal “at any time without any further notice” to the FTC.

The FTC’s request for a TRO is the subject of a separate emergency motion, in which the agency asks the court to enter before 8:59 p.m. PDT Thursday an order prohibiting Microsoft and Activision from completing the deal until after the court rules on the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction, said the complaint.

The proposed transaction would be the largest in the history of the video game industry and the largest in Microsoft’s history, said the complaint. It would continue Microsoft’s “pattern of taking control of valuable gaming content,” it said. With control of Activision’s content, Microsoft would have “the ability and increased incentive to withhold or degrade Activision’s content in ways that substantially lessen competition,” it said. That lessened competition “would likely result in significant harm to consumers in multiple markets at a pivotal time for the industry,” it said.