FTC Apparently Timed Lawsuit Against Microsoft-Activision In An Attempt To Manipulate A Potential EU Settlement

In an attempt to dissuade EU regulators from accepting a settlement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit attempting to block Microsoft from possibly acquiring Activision Blizzard.

Bloomberg reported that the FTC filed a complaint quicker than expected, filing it just hours after US and EU officials held a call about their separate inquiries. In this call, EU said they planned to start discussions with Microsoft about a settlement which then led to the FTC filing the suit on the same day, despite these situations usually having parties wait until a deadline to figure out a settlement.

Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP’s antitrust head Barry Nigro told Bloomberg the FTC’s speedy lawsuit may be an attempt to “get out in front of the Europeans in an effort to shape the narrative”. The FTC claimed that “the $69 billion deal, Microsoft’s largest ever and the largest ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business”.

However, Microsoft has commented on this time and time again, mentioning they have no plans to remove Call of Duty from PlayStation.