The FTC Reviews The Controversial Activision Blizzard's Microsoft Acquisition

Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is the focus of the FTC. (photo: doc. activision)

JAKARTA - The news of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, some time ago, has indeed become a hot discussion and concern by several parties, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), United States (US).

According to a Bloomberg report, the possibility of the acquisition plan will soon meet obstacles. The reason is, the FTC will review this important game industry agreement.

The $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch game developer has raised questions, including whether Microsoft's move will spark antitrust and antitrust.

Later, it will be answered by the FTC before the Microsoft deal is completed at the end of Q4 fiscal 2023. The chairman of the FTC in this decision is Linda Khan, who reportedly strongly opposes the potential monopoly.

He, partnered with the Department of Justice (DOJ), who wants to be tougher on big tech companies. Mergers of this size must be approved by regulatory agencies, notably the FTC, DOJ, US Security, and Exchange Commission, and possibly the European Union.

Citing Digital Trends, Wednesday, February 2, this is of course a huge potential hurdle for Microsoft and its plans to own so much of the western game market, AAA.

In fact, this isn't the first, or last major acquisition by Microsoft or any other major company in the game.

Last year Microsoft made a similar move by buying game developer Bethesda for $7.5 billion. Even recently, Sony bought the creator of the iconic Halo franchise, Bungie, for 3.6 billion US dollars.