The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dropped its case against Microsoft that sought to block the company’s blockbuster $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The deal was already approved, but the FTC was appealing the decision.
A memo from the FTC states that, “The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the complaint in this matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed.”
Microsoft president Brad Smith said this was a “victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C.”
This result was expected. Earlier this month, a US appeals court denied the FTC’s appeal of the original judgment that the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal could go through. It’s not clear how the two companies could have been untangled had the appeal been successful.
To appease regulator concerns, Microsoft carved out deals to bring Xbox games to non-Xbox streaming platforms and also continue to release games on non-Xbox platforms. Microsoft is indeed doing that, and for April 2025 in the US, five out of the top seven best-selling PS5 games were published by Xbox.
The FTC’s case against Microsoft was driven in part by FTC head Lina Khan. When President Trump took office in January 2025, he installed Andrew N. Ferguson as the new FTC chair.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $75.4 billion was Microsoft’s biggest-ever acquisition by purchase price, and the biggest gaming buyout of all time.