The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has paused its in-house legal challenge to Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of gaming developer Activision Blizzard, allowing for potential settlement talks.
In an order on Thursday, FCT secretary April J. Tabor put the objection on hold.
The matter had been set to go before an FTC administrative law judge for trial on August 2.
Now the FTC has withdrawn its in-house case, Microsoft and Activision can attempt to commence the FTC to accept remedies to address their concerns around competition in the gaming sector or to entirely abandon their objection to the acquisition.
The FTC had also been attempting to block the merger in district court, with a U.S. appeals court last Friday rejecting the agency’s request to pause the acquisition.
While this move is a major win for Microsoft and Activision, the companies still also need to satisfy the UK’s competition regulator for the deal to go ahead. Negotiations between Microsoft, Activision, and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority are ongoing.
Microsoft and Activision have extended their deadline to close the deal to October 18 to provide time to deal with the regulatory actions.
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