On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it would not pursue a case to block Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company behind the “Call of Duty” franchise. The agency determined that continuing legal action against a deal that was finalized in 2023 wasn’t in the best interest of the public.
Earlier, on May 7, the FTC had lost an appeal to overturn a judge’s ruling that had declined to halt the acquisition.
Typically, when the FTC tries to challenge a new merger, it requests a temporary block from a judge, which allows the agency time to pursue its case in administrative court. However, such temporary blocks often lead to the deal being abandoned.
Despite losing the temporary block, the FTC could have still chosen to contest the merger during a trial set for July.
This acquisition was significant, as it represented the largest deal in the video gaming sector. The FTC argued that the merger would strengthen Microsoft’s position against competitors in the gaming console market and its subscription and cloud gaming services.
