The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit on Thursday to block Microsoft's proposed $69 billion acquisition of game maker Activision Blizzard.
The FTC noted it is seeking to block the acquisition as it believes the transaction would "enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business." Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition claimed Microsoft has already shown it "can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals" and stressed the regulator wants to stop the tech giant from "gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition."
The deal is already facing in-depth probes in the United Kingdom and the European Union after their preliminary investigations determined it could significantly reduce competition.
