The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is suing to block Microsoft's proposed $69
billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The New York Times has details on this latest roadblock for the potentially
game-changing deal:
The Federal Trade Commission, in one of the most
aggressive actions taken by federal regulators in decades to check the power of
the tech industry’s giants, on Thursday sued to block Microsoft’s $69 billion
acquisition of the video game maker Activision Blizzard.
The F.T.C. said that the deal would harm consumers because Microsoft could use
Activision’s blockbuster games like Call of Duty to lure gamers from rivals. The
agency’s commissioners voted 3to 1 to approve filing the suit.
The decision is a blow to the expansion of Microsoft’s video game business,
which has become its most important consumer unit and topped $16 billion in
annual sales during the most recent fiscal year. For the F.T.C. chair, Lina
Khan, a legal scholar who rocketed to fame after she wrote an article
criticizing Amazon, the lawsuit will test whether her aggressive plan to rein in
the power of Big Tech can survive in the courts.