The decision of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard didn’t sit well with the company and after the commission directly sued the company, Xbox responded with a somewhat aggressive statement. Well, Xbox already acknowledge the response and decided to take it back.
In case you missed it: Microsoft vs. FTC: first preliminary hearing is over
According to a report by Axios, Microsoft modified at the last minute the document containing its response to the FTC after confirming the intention to block the purchase of Activision Blizzard.
The original version included a section in which it pointed out that the very structure and therefore the operation of the regulator were in violation of constitutional articles and even pointed out a conflict related to the separation of powers, an affront that made waves considering that the company was upset for not being able to finalize the acquisition process.
Not a good look…
Obviously, the document no longer contains such mentions, and the hostile language has been toned down. A Microsoft spokesperson told the site:
“The FTC has an important mission to protect competition and consumers, and we quickly updated our response to omit language suggesting otherwise based on the constitution.”
They also added that initially they put all potential arguments on the table internally and should have dropped these defenses before they filed the document, however, they appreciated feedback about these defenses and are engaging directly with those who expressed concerns to make their position clear.
Did you know?: Three Bethesda Xbox exclusives are on their way?
While the relationship between Microsoft and the FTC is more strained than ever, the reality is that the Activision Blizzard purchase has turned into a nightmare as it is now also being considered by the political sphere and Joe Biden's administration.
It is no secret that the current US President is looking to rebuild the middle class and part of his narrative at the moment is against the big tech companies.
Before the end of 2022, the US government authorized a budget increase for the FTC, something that had not been done in recent years, mandating the regulator to stop any attempt at monopoly in the US market nonetheless Microsoft assured that they will make the purchase of Activision Blizzard despite the FTC.
How will this end? Don’t forget to stay tuned here at LevelUp!
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