Today marks a large step forward in Microsoft's quest to acquire Activision Blizzard. Originally arranged in January of 2022, and following the purchase of Bethesda ZeniMax in 2020, an injunction was presented by the Federal Trade Commission to block the huge purchase, citing unfair competitive practices in cloud streaming and consumer access. After hearing the cases presented, California Judge Jacqueline Scott Corely has denied the preliminary injunction to the FTC, her ruling reads as follows:

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services. This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED. 

CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer, who has been fairly cordial and openly honest, took to social media to speak about his gratefulness of the judge's ruling in a several thread-long tweet:

"We're grateful to the court for swiftly deciding in our favor. The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry and the FTC’s claims about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don’t reflect the realities of the gaming market.

Since we first announced this deal, our commitment to bringing more games to more people on more devices has only grown. We’ve signed multiple agreements to make Activision Blizzard’s games, Xbox first party games and Game Pass all available to more players than they are today.

We know that players around the world have been watching this case closely and I’m proud of our efforts to expand player access and choice throughout this journey."

1/We're grateful to the court for swiftly deciding in our favor. The evidence showed the Activision Blizzard deal is good for the industry and the FTC’s claims about console switching, multi-game subscription services, and cloud don’t reflect the realities of the gaming market.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 11, 2023

What does this mean moving forward?

The injunction has been denied, but Microsoft securing Activision Blizzard is not necessarily set in stone. The FTC still has to review and approve the deal, or try an appeal to redefine their position to block it. Not to mention Microsoft will have to work diligently with the UK CMA, who are one of the stronger holdouts, on provisions that are deemed acceptable. With many regions already on board, as well as a pending deal to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo platforms, Microsoft and Xbox have said a lot of the right things. Let us bear witness to the follow-through.