Microsoft’s pending purchase of Activision Blizzard is receiving a lot of scrutiny, and now the US Federal Trade Commission may be step in.
Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision-Blizzard isn’t progessing quite as smoothly as the companies probably hoped it would. Regulators around the world are closely scrutinizing the $69 billion takeover and Microsoft have found themselves backed into promising they’ll sign lengthy agreements to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles. Until now, the one silver lining for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, is that we haven’t heard much from American regulators (the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission are the ones currently putting the deal under the microscope). Well, it seems that silver lining may be about to evaporate.
According to a new report from Politico, which is said to be based on accounts of three people with knowledge of the matter, the US Federal Trade Commission is “likely” (their words) to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
