Microsoft and the US Federal Trade Commission are about to trade blows in a court of law very soon. Being the latest hurdle in front of the software company's attempt at acquiring Activision-Blizzard, FTC has approached the process from an outwardly critical point of view, making it seem that the completion of the acquisition is far from certain yet.

It's not overly surprising, perhaps, that Microsoft accused FTC of violating its constitutional rights by blocking the acquisition. Sony has been very vocal in its opposition to Microsoft's attempts at acquiring Activision-Blizzard, and it would appear that at least some of these concerns have fallen on the right ears, even though most legislators have been largely positive or indifferent towards the deal.

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Engadget has reported on FTC Director Holly Vedova's comments about the acquisition. According to Vedova, FTC wishes to halt Microsoft's advances in gaining control over one of the leading independent gaming studios, as it fears that Microsoft may leverage this deal to "harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets." Microsoft already chimed in on the matter, claiming that FTC is blinded by Sony's Activision-Blizzard complaints. The appointed federal judge has already set the date for the first pre-trial hearing between Microsoft and FTC, slated for January 3, and sources have already pointed out that FTC may be hard-pressed to convince the judge that the acquisition is actually meaningfully problematic.

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The spat between Microsoft and Sony has been curious to watch from the sidelines, as the two gargantuan media companies have taken things to extremes as of late. Microsoft claims that Sony blocks Xbox game releases, for example, which is exceedingly problematic from a regular gamer's perspective. On the flip side, Sony has been very vocal about its Call of Duty concerns, claiming that no other franchise could possibly hope to compete with the title, should it ever become a dedicated Xbox exclusive.

Even though the FTC is currently blocking the deal from going through in the US, UK's regulators don't mind the Activision-Blizzard deal. In fact, many countries, like Chile, have already greenlit the acquisition. This implies that the US federal judge's decision in the coming lawsuit could set the stage for the deal's further development, and if they end up leaning towards FTC's side of the argument, Microsoft may end up needing to make concessions to help things move along.

Curiously, Bernie Sanders praised FTC's blocking of the acquisition. Sanders' argument is that the fact that just a handful of giant corporations control virtually everything produced globally is a massive problem that ought to get dealt with, and stopping Microsoft from growing even larger in the gaming industry would be a step in the right direction. Microsoft, of course, disagrees with this assessment, and it remains to be seen how the appointed judge feels about it.

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Source: Engadget