Twitter

The FTC is suing Microsoft to block its Activision Blizzard purchase.

Microsoft: "While we believed in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court."https://t.co/yXnkQRPfTx pic.twitter.com/RaeLPQSk5h

— Klobrille (@klobrille) December 8, 2022

The FTC has filed a legal challenge to try and block Microsoft’s plan to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, according to a press release from the regulator. The lawsuit was filed today after weeks of back and forth between Microsoft, Sony, and regulators over competition concerns and the future of Call of Duty. The FTC argues that the acquisition would “enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.” The vote from the FTC commissioners today means Microsoft now faces significant hurdles to getting its Activision Blizzard deal complete. Regulators in the UK and EU are also scrutinizing the deal closely, despite Microsoft’s repeated attempts to appease regulators. “Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.” “We continue to believe that this deal will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, said in a statement to The Verge. “We have been committed since Day One to addressing competition concerns, including by offering earlier this week proposed concessions to the FTC. While we believed in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present our case in court.” The company’s corporate vice president of communications, Frank X. Shaw, also tweeted a link to a document titled: “Get The Facts: How Microsoft is Committed to Growing Gaming Communities.” Microsoft offered Sony a 10-year deal on new Call of Duty games last month, but Sony hasn’t yet accepted the offer. A similar deal was agreed upon between Nintendo and Valve, though. It could see Call of Duty heading to Nintendo consoles if the Activision Blizzard deal is approved. Microsoft’s frustrations over Sony’s objections to its Activision Blizzard deal have been clear. “Sony has emerged as the loudest objector,” said Microsoft president Brad Smith in a Wall Street Journal op-ed recently. “It’s as excited about this deal as Blockbuster was about the rise of Netflix.” Microsoft also described the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concerns as “misplaced” and accused the regulator of adopting “Sony’s complaints without considering the potential harm to consumers.” Microsoft has also accused Sony of paying developers to keep their content off of its Xbox Game Pass service, and Sony has even argued that Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition could “hurt developers and lead to price rises.”

view image

While we believed in giving peace a chance

view image

This was in Microsoft's official statement.

lawyers about to get paid

FTC will fail

view image

This was in August

Told y'all, they're trying to tax and fu*k with Microsoft for not being able to break them up back in the day like they wanted to

This is common for large acquisitions and fairly reasonable.

deal is going through imo unless I decide to join the FTC legal team and wrap up this case with ease

Faythung said While we believed in giving peace a chance view image This was in Microsoft's official statement.

Microsoft finna body these niccas, but really.... As an Xbox user, who cares either way.... I just want a better lineup for 2023...

With that being said, for trolling purposes against the folks who take this deal so seriously...

view image

This case stands no chance makes me consider voting Republican the way these Democrats are wasting money with these Frivolous cases

People think this is all about CoD. It has more to do with King and Microsoft becoming more established in mobile games. Candy Crush is much larger than CoD.

I see all my emails paid off

Gotta love when democracy works how it’s supposed to

view image

They going to stall em out.

SpyDa said view image They going to stall em out.

I believe this is false, there's no reason the deal needs to be re-negotiated, both parties are in agreement and want it to go through.

Faythung said I believe this is false, there's no reason the deal needs to be re-negotiated.

charlieintel should stick to COD loadouts

Faythung said I believe this is false, there's no reason the deal needs to be re-negotiated, both parties are in agreement and want it to go through.

They made the announcement and stated they'd be merged by June 30th. If that target date is missed, they would have to renegotiate and provide the details to stock holders etc.. so it's a possibility. Probably why they are trying to sue, knowing they'd lose. Hoping to just stall em out.

view tweet

;t=j2_lSZldxOJcvdxoUjF5QQ

More of the people's tax dollars wasted.

SpyDa said They made the announcement and stated they'd be merged by June 30th. If that target date is missed, they would have to renegotiate and provide the details to stock holders etc.. so it's a possibility. Probably why they are trying to sue, knowing they'd lose. Hoping to just stall em out. view image

Think that's just an expectation, I don't see anything contractual there, and besides shareholders overwhelmingly (98%) voted for this deal.

Faythung said Think that's just an expectation, I don't see anything contractual there, and besides shareholders overwhelmingly (98%) voted for this deal.

Unless they have a clause, I'm sure a renegotiation will take place. With the way the economy set up for 2023, they could be cheaper or worth a lot more in 6 months.

Saw these comments on Reddit:

It is worth noting that the FTC cannot ask for a consent decree (legally binding concessions) from Microsoft without first filing a lawsuit to block the deal.

One thing I'll note here is the agency has not filed for a preliminary injunction to stop the deal in federal court. So it's likely MSFT and Activision will still close.


Just going to highlight two points from this article.

The FTC chose to file the complaint in its own administrative court, not in federal court.

The agency is not seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the deal from closing, so the two parties are still likely to close.

They're going for concessions.

view image

Faythung said I believe this is false, there's no reason the deal needs to be re-negotiated, both parties are in agreement and want it to go through.

view video

SpyDa said view image They going to stall em out.

Interesting

Blokka Blokka said FTC will fail view image This was in August

Yeah and that remains true.

I’m honestly surprised that the FTC is even pushing back. Must be some attorneys over there hoping to get their career defining case.

Skateboard T said Yeah and that remains true. I’m honestly surprised that the FTC is even pushing back. Must be some attorneys over there hoping to get their career defining case.

wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't even make it to court and gets resolved before

view tweet

;t=sV1EuYKrKIwfMkDzsTlN2Q