• The FTC has filed for an injunction to prevent Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard.
• The commission is concerned that the merger will harm competition in the console market as well as the emerging cloud gaming space.
• Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have welcomed the opportunity to present their case in federal court.

While Microsoft was showing off its forthcoming titles at the weekend, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was seemingly busy with plans to present yet another roadblock for the firm’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Having already filed a lawsuit to block the merger between the pair, the FTC is now filing for an injunction that could prevent the merger from closing on schedule according to an Engadget report.

The commission argues to the court that if the deal is allowed to happen competition would be harmed. Mirroring many of the talking points heard during this acquisition so far, the FTC said that with Activision Blizzard in its stable, Microsoft could have a negative impact on competition in both the console market and the emerging cloud gaming market.

This could include Microsoft restricting Activision Blizzard games to its platforms or making the experience of playing those games worse on other platforms.

As these points have been raised before, Microsoft has already agreed to making its games available on PlayStation and cloud gaming services such as NVIDIA GeForce Now.

The FTC is worried that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will move forward with the deal while it prepares its lawsuit. The two firms however, seem unbothered by this new development and welcome it.

“We welcome the opportunity to present our case in federal court,” vice president and chair of Microsoft, Brad Smith told The Verge. “We believe accelerating the legal process in the US will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the market.”

Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick also welcomed the FTC’s move.

“Our excellent legal team has been preparing for this move for more than a year, and we’re ready to present our case to a federal judge who can evaluate the transaction on the merits,” the CEO said in a letter to employees.

This lawsuit comes after the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK ruled that the acquisition could not move forward.

“The deal would reinforce Microsoft’s advantage in the market by giving it control over important gaming content such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The evidence available to the CMA indicates that, absent the merger, Activision would start providing games via cloud platforms in the foreseeable future,” the UK Authority ruled.

These regions are the only ones who have said no to the acquisition thus far and with a deadline of 18th July for the deal to go through, any delay could scupper the deal.