Microsoft Officially Succeeds In FTC Appeal For Its 2023 Activision Blizzard Acquisition

Rewinding back to 2023, the lengthy battle in the courts for Microsoft came to a close when it was announced in October that the $70 billion purchase for publisher Activision Blizzard King passed. Since then, the shift in titles available for Xbox Game Pass has been very generous with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4, and even the new Activision Retro Classics that rolled out recently.

However, there has been other concerns since the deal passed then. For one, the handling of talent: the Xbox firm remained consistent in steady layoffs that hit its gaming divisions. Most notably the mass firings that happened in January 2024 affecting over 1,900 employees. A second wave came later in July 2024 as well. 

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has remained an adamant adversary against the deal and even filed a separate appeal by the government body towards the deal that was fulfilled in 2023. But in May 2025, Microsoft remained to say ahead in this race against the FTC as it won in the 9th Circuit Court.

“Defendants cannot demonstrate that entry or expansion in the Relevant Markets would be timely, likely, or sufficient to reverse the anticompetitive effects of the Proposed Acquisition,” the document from May 7th reads. Additionally, the FTC days after filed an order to dismiss its complaint from the ruling. “The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case.”

This is not the only council that Microsoft has bested in regards to the Activision Blizzard King deal. Ahead of its purchase deadline, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) did pullback on its push against the acquisition in 2023. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised how these events turned out for Microsoft?

Source: USDC, FTC