The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially dropped the case that sought to block the acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard by tech giant Microsoft.
Following the lost appeal by the FTC to reverse a judge’s decision to block the deal on May 7th, 2025, the case was officially dismissed on May 22nd, 2025, as confirmed by Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith.
The FTC Commission stated that the case, which saw Activision Blizzard being bought for $68.7bn (~£50.5bn), was no longer in the public interest. Therefore, it has dropped the case after more than a year.
The acquisition, first proposed at the start of 2022, drew antitrust concerns worldwide, as regulators feared Microsoft would suppress its competitors, such as Sony’s PlayStation, by gaining exclusive control over Activision’s popular game titles. This includes Call of Duty, Diablo, and World of Warcraft.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially also blocked the deal in April 2023 but allowed Microsoft to submit a restructured deal that was approved in September 2023, completing the merger on October 13th. The FTC attempted to block the deal in 2023 but lost the preliminary injunction. Despite appealing the decision, the court upheld the previous ruling.
Microsoft’s acquisition came at a difficult time for Activision since it struggled with esports franchises, the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League. This saw several owners start collective bargaining against the company due to high costs and missed promises on revenue. In July 2023, franchise owners voted on the future of the now-defunct Overwatch League.
Moreover, the game publisher was also facing public backlash over sexual harassment problems lawsuits, which also caused brands to pause the sponsorships in the competitions.
