Microsoft—Microsoft completed $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, largest gaming industry deal in history
Microsoft completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard on October 13, 2023, for $75.4 billion — the largest acquisition in gaming history. The FTC challenged the deal in December 2022 alleging it would suppress competition, but a federal judge rejected the FTC's preliminary injunction in July 2023, finding more consumer access to Call of Duty was likely. Microsoft secured approvals from 40+ countries, offering 10-year commitments to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation and licensing cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft for the UK CMA. The FTC dropped its challenge in May 2025.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antitrust & Competition | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -1.180 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Microsoft closed $75.4 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition after defeating FTC challenge
Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard on October 13, 2023 for $75.4 billion, the largest gaming industry acquisition in history. The FTC had challenged the deal in December 2022, but a federal judge rejected the injunction in July 2023 and the FTC ultimately dropped its case in May 2025.