The FTC’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against Microsoft Moves Forward With Pre-Trial Hearings

The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft has taken its first steps forward with yesterday’s first pre-trial hearing. As we previously reported, the FTC is looking to block the multi-billion dollar merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard on grounds that it will stifle competition and will give the former the means to pull popular games from other video game platforms with particular focus on the Call of Duty franchise.

Legal experts analyzing the case, however, believe that the FTC might have started a battle that they can’t win. According to antitrust lawyer Andre Barlow of Doyle, Barlow & Mazard PLLC, Microsoft’s offer of a 10-year Call of Duty licensing deal to both Sony and Nintendo could be enough for the court to rule in Microsoft’s favor, citing three precedents where similar concessions were accepted by the court.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Consumer and Markets Authority continues to run the deal through a fine-tooth comb as a group of gamers files its own private antitrust lawsuit to stop the merger. Chile’s Fiscalía Nacional Económica, however, has recently allowed the deal to push through as it believes that Microsoft has offered enough evidence that it wouldn’t suppress competition considering that Call of Duty is comparatively less popular in Latin America than in other regions.