The FTC lawsuit has put Microsoft under the harshest antitrust scrutiny in the US in more than two decades.

Failure to close, or any permanent court order to block the merger, could force Microsoft to pay a $3 billion breakup fee to Activision, according to the deal’s terms.Ī crucial moment for Microsoft and the FTC The clash comes as Microsoft and Activision face down a contractual July 18 deadline to consummate the deal. It just needs to show that the agency would be likely to succeed in doing so if the case moves ahead, and that otherwise its ability to enforce US antitrust law would be harmed. In this hearing, the FTC does not need to prove that the deal is anticompetitive. Microsoft has said that a victory for the FTC at this stage “will effectively block the transaction” overall. That would keep the companies from closing their merger, at least until the FTC’s in-house court rules in a separate proceeding on whether the acquisition is anticompetitive.īut this week’s fight over a preliminary injunction may prove decisive for the deal as a whole. In bringing the case, the Federal Trade Commission is asking a US district court judge for an injunction that would temporarily halt the deal. The days-long affair begins Thursday and is scheduled to run through next week.

It will also impact enormously popular gaming franchises such as “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft,” which Activision owns and would be transferred to Microsoft under the deal.Īlso testifying will be the top financial executives from both companies senior leaders from Microsoft’s Xbox division the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer and a vocal critic of the deal, Sony gaming CEO Jim Ryan.

The outcome of the fight will shape the future of the multibillion-dollar games industry. The showdown in federal court will have the CEOs of both companies taking the stand to defend their $69 billion merger against claims that the combination could violate US antitrust law and harm millions of consumers. (ATVI) will face off Thursday against the US government in a high-stakes battle over one of the largest technology acquisitions in history. (MSFT) and the video game giant Activision Blizzard

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