Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, a gaming company famous for hits like Call of Duty, disputed the Federal Trade Commission’s challenge to their proposed $68.7 billion merger on Thursday, writing in a court filing that the U.S. regulator’s concerns that the deal would undermine fair competition in the gaming industry are “unfounded” and “absurd.”
The rebuttal foreshadows a coming legal battle between Microsoft, a tech giant that has largely avoided close regulatory scrutiny from federal authorities in recent years, and the FTC, whose chairwoman Lina Khan is a well-known skeptic of big tech. Microsoft, the maker of the Xbox console, announced plans in January to buy Activision Blizzard, which has produced hit franchises like Call of Duty and Diablo.
Source:washingtonpost.com