US Federal Trade Commission Finally Drops Appeal Against Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has ended its legal battle against Microsoft over its acquisition of Activision Blizzard and mobile developer King.

In a filing made on May 22, 2025, the agency moved to dismiss its remaining challenge, formally closing the long-running dispute over the biggest merger in video game history. The move comes weeks after a federal appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that denied the FTC’s request to halt the acquisition.

Microsoft announced the deal in early 2022, with the FTC launching a lawsuit later that year. Although Microsoft finalized the merger in October 2023, the FTC continued pursuing action even after its legal avenues narrowed. The latest dismissal marks the agency’s decision to stop further proceedings.

“The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the Complaint in this matter be, and it hereby is, dismissed by the Commission,” the FTC’s filing reads.

Vice chair and president of Microsoft Brad Smith celebrated the dismissal with a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Today’s decision is a victory for players across the country and for common sense in Washington, D.C. We are grateful to the FTC for today’s announcement.”

In addition to scrutiny from the U.S., Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard faced regulatory challenges in the United Kingdom and the European Union. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially blocked the deal in April 2023 over concerns about its impact on the cloud gaming market. To address these concerns, Microsoft restructured the deal by agreeing to transfer the cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft outside of the European Economic Area. This concession led the CMA to approve the revised deal in October 2023.

The European Commission approved the acquisition in May 2023 after Microsoft offered licensing commitments to address competition concerns. These commitments included providing free licenses to consumers and cloud gaming service providers in the European Economic Area, allowing them to stream all current and future Activision Blizzard PC and console games via any cloud gaming service of their choice.

Other countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia, reviewed and approved the deal without major objections. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, including its mobile gaming division King, was finalized on Oct. 13, 2023, for a total cost of $69 billion.