The FTC did not approve the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard

A few days ago, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a decision to file a lawsuit demanding that Microsoft be banned from purchasing Activision Blizzard, one of the largest game developers and publishers. Recall that the amount of the potential deal is estimated at $69 billion.

The FTC press release notesthat Microsoft, after acquiring the ZeniMax holding, decided to make several Bethesda games, including Starfield and Redfall, exclusives to their platforms. At the same time, at the stage of approving the deal with ZeniMax, the company stated to European antitrust authorities that it did not intend to prevent the spread of games on competing platforms.

Based on this fact, the FTC believes that the words of Microsoft representatives can no longer be trusted, and after buying Activision Blizzard, the company will make some games exclusive to its platforms, despite all the previous statements.

“Microsoft has already demonstrated that it can and will take content from its gaming competitors,” said Holly Vedova, director of the FTC Competition Bureau. “We intend to prevent Microsoft from gaining control of a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in several dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”