Image via Activision
Microsoft is now taking back saying that the FTC is violating the United States constitution. The original claim had been made after the FTC pushed to sue in order to block the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft made the claim back in December, but has now removed that statement and filed a revised response to the FTC lawsuit. The updated filing argues that its purchase of Activision would not create issues in competition with other gaming companies.
The main issue stemmed from the fact that Activision publishes Call of Duty — often the highest selling video game each year — and Sony is concerned that Microsoft owning Call of Duty would hurt competition between the two companies.
Microsoft pushed back against Sony’s claims several times, calling Activision’s games not “must-haves” and saying that Call of Duty would continue to release on PlayStation anyways.
Microsoft has now removed the claim that the FTC’s structure and in-house administrative court violate the United States Constitution, the separation of powers, and the due process clause of the 5th Amendment of the Constitution.
Microsoft is now saying that: “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.
“We initially put all potential arguments on the table internally and should have dropped these defenses before we filed. We appreciated feedback about these defenses and are engaging directly with those who expressed concerns to make our position clear.”
Activision, which also backed these allegations, has now dropped them as well.
The Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the FTC’s structure and if it violated the constitution back in November, but no ruling has yet been issued.
The FTC case will stretch across 2023, with a trial set to begin in August — one month after Microsoft’s offer expires. Microsoft has offered to have extensive talks with the FTC to potentially resolve the concerns from the agency.
We have yet to see what will be the result of this situation and what will happen to the Microsoft deal for Activision.
Want more DZSH with you? Sign up for our newsletter today for fun games, updates, and more!
Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
