Microsoft gets the greenlight to acquire Activision Blizzard

The Future. A federal judge is allowing Microsoft’s $75 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard to go through — a huge blow to the Lina Khan-led FTC fight against corporate consolidation. If the deal officially closes, Microsoft may suddenly be the leader in mobile gaming (Activision makes Candy Crush, along with many other money-making titles) and boost its cloud-gaming operations to become the de facto market leader.

Target acquired
A judge has ruled it’s “game over” for the FTC.

• US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the FTC’s request for an injunction on the deal, disagreeing with the agency’s argument that the acquisition would limit access to Activision’s games.
• The court instead argued consumers would get even more access to titles, such as Call of Duty.
• Having no more legal obstacles in the US, that means the deal will go through on the July 18th deadline… although, the FTC can always appeal. 

Microsoft still needs to contend with merger approval in the UK, but things are looking positive there too, with the country’s Competition and Markets Authority saying it was ready to consider a new proposal. Either way, a hold up there may not stop the sale from going through.

It seems no deal is too big to fail.