Microsoft, U.S. regulators head to court over $69-billion deal that could reshape video gaming
CTV
Microsoft on Thursday will try to gain clearance to complete a $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard in a legal showdown with U.S. regulators that will reshape a pastime that's bigger than the movie and music industries combined.
Microsoft on Thursday will try to gain clearance to complete a $69-billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard in a legal showdown with U.S. regulators that will reshape a pastime that's bigger than the movie and music industries combined.
The battle will pit Microsoft's ambition to expand its video game imprint beyond its Xbox console against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's bid to block a deal that it contends will stifle competition and innovation to the detriment of consumers.
It's the latest twist in a deal that was announced 17 months ago. Both Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick are expected to testify at some point during five days of hearings in San Francisco before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley that will conclude June 29.
FTC lawyers will call upon experts and a top executive for Sony, the maker of the industry-leading PlayStation video game console, to show why Microsoft will gain an unfair advantage if it is allowed to blend its Xbox franchise with an Activision acquisition that will give it ownership of popular video game titles such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush.
After all the evidence and arguments are presented, Corley will decide whether or not to grant the FTC's request for a court order that would keep the deal in a holding pattern until a more exhaustive administrative trial that's scheduled to begin in Washington D.C. on August 2. The judge isn't expected to rule until after the Fourth of July holiday.
If Corley declines to issue an injunction, Microsoft could move to close the deal ahead of a July 18 deadline and avert a $3-billion breakup fee.
The wrangling over the deal has cast a spotlight on the growing importance of video gaming, a pursuit that has already garnered an estimated of audience of about 3 billion people worldwide who play at least some of the time on a console, personal computer or, increasingly, smartphone. The market is expected to swell to 4.5 billion people by 2030.
