SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
FTC Chair Lina Khan speaks during a May 18, 2022 hearing in the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C.
(Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Advocates Applaud as FTC Sues to Stop Microsoft-Activision Mega-Merger
Biden's FTC, said one consumer campaigner, "is showing, once again, that it is serious about enforcing the law, reversing corporate concentration, and taking on the tough cases."
Dec 08, 2022
Consumer advocates cheered a lawsuit filed Thursday by the Biden administration in a bid to block the proposed merger of two of the world's leading video game companies, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard--a $69 billion deal the Federal Trade Commission argued would "harm competition" in the nearly $200 billion gaming industry.
"Today's action is of incredible importance in ensuring fair and open competition in gaming and across the larger digital economy."
"The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft's largest ever and the largest-ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business," the FTC said in a statement.
Reacting to the lawsuit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted, "Corporate monopolies have had free rein to hike prices and harm workers, but now the Biden administration is committed to promoting competition."
Microsoft announced in January that it would acquire Activision Blizzard--whose other popular titles include the World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch franchises--for $68.7 billion. Activision Blizzard has been plagued by multiple allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual battery, and labor violations.
Politico reports:
The FTC voted, 3-1 to issue the complaint, with all three Democrats--Lina Khan, Alvaro Bedoya, and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter--supporting the move, and Republican Christine S. Wilson voting no...
The lawsuit is the FTC's biggest move yet under Chair Lina Khan to rein in the power of the world's largest technology companies. It is also a major black mark for Microsoft, which has positioned itself as a white knight of sorts on antitrust issues in the tech sector after going through its own grueling regulatory antitrust battles around the world more than two decades ago.
Microsoft president Brad Smith responded to the suit by insisting that "we continue to believe that our deal to acquire Activision Blizzard will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers."
However, Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, called the proposed merger "unlawful" and said it "will undermine the vitality of an important sector of the American economy and consolidate the video game industry into a small group of firms who control walled gardens of content, data, and advertising."
Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director at the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly group, warned that "if Microsoft acquired Activision, it could use Activision's valuable portfolio of games as a competitive weapon, withholding titles from rival consoles or offering lower quality versions of them, to give its own Xbox and cloud-gaming service a leg-up."
"The FTC recognized this threat of unfair competition and made the right choice, once again showing it takes vertical mergers seriously," Vaheesan added. "If giants like Microsoft want to expand, they should invest in their own capacity and hire more workers, instead of snapping up firms in adjacent markets. We hope the court sees the merits in the FTC's case and stops this harmful consolidation."
Matt Kent, competition policy advocate for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement that "today's action is of incredible importance in ensuring fair and open competition in gaming and across the larger digital economy. The FTC is showing, once again, that it is serious about enforcing the law, reversing corporate concentration, and taking on the tough cases."
"The proposed deal raises too many red flags to proceed, especially considering that Microsoft is already operating in several concentrated sectors of the economy including consumer electronics, cloud computing, software development, hardware development, internet search, social networking, virtual reality, and video gaming," Kent continued.
"This deal should be stopped," he added. "If allowed to purchase a key video game developer like Activision, Microsoft would be positioned to dominate gaming into the future and unfairly disadvantage other market participants."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
joe bidenmicrosoftelizabeth warrenopen markets institutepublic citizenlina khanmergertechnologyfederal trade commissionftcantitrustmonopoly
Consumer advocates cheered a lawsuit filed Thursday by the Biden administration in a bid to block the proposed merger of two of the world's leading video game companies, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard--a $69 billion deal the Federal Trade Commission argued would "harm competition" in the nearly $200 billion gaming industry.
"Today's action is of incredible importance in ensuring fair and open competition in gaming and across the larger digital economy."
"The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft's largest ever and the largest-ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business," the FTC said in a statement.
Reacting to the lawsuit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted, "Corporate monopolies have had free rein to hike prices and harm workers, but now the Biden administration is committed to promoting competition."
Microsoft announced in January that it would acquire Activision Blizzard--whose other popular titles include the World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch franchises--for $68.7 billion. Activision Blizzard has been plagued by multiple allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual battery, and labor violations.
Politico reports:
The FTC voted, 3-1 to issue the complaint, with all three Democrats--Lina Khan, Alvaro Bedoya, and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter--supporting the move, and Republican Christine S. Wilson voting no...
The lawsuit is the FTC's biggest move yet under Chair Lina Khan to rein in the power of the world's largest technology companies. It is also a major black mark for Microsoft, which has positioned itself as a white knight of sorts on antitrust issues in the tech sector after going through its own grueling regulatory antitrust battles around the world more than two decades ago.
Microsoft president Brad Smith responded to the suit by insisting that "we continue to believe that our deal to acquire Activision Blizzard will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers."
However, Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, called the proposed merger "unlawful" and said it "will undermine the vitality of an important sector of the American economy and consolidate the video game industry into a small group of firms who control walled gardens of content, data, and advertising."
Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director at the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly group, warned that "if Microsoft acquired Activision, it could use Activision's valuable portfolio of games as a competitive weapon, withholding titles from rival consoles or offering lower quality versions of them, to give its own Xbox and cloud-gaming service a leg-up."
"The FTC recognized this threat of unfair competition and made the right choice, once again showing it takes vertical mergers seriously," Vaheesan added. "If giants like Microsoft want to expand, they should invest in their own capacity and hire more workers, instead of snapping up firms in adjacent markets. We hope the court sees the merits in the FTC's case and stops this harmful consolidation."
Matt Kent, competition policy advocate for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement that "today's action is of incredible importance in ensuring fair and open competition in gaming and across the larger digital economy. The FTC is showing, once again, that it is serious about enforcing the law, reversing corporate concentration, and taking on the tough cases."
"The proposed deal raises too many red flags to proceed, especially considering that Microsoft is already operating in several concentrated sectors of the economy including consumer electronics, cloud computing, software development, hardware development, internet search, social networking, virtual reality, and video gaming," Kent continued.
"This deal should be stopped," he added. "If allowed to purchase a key video game developer like Activision, Microsoft would be positioned to dominate gaming into the future and unfairly disadvantage other market participants."
Consumer advocates cheered a lawsuit filed Thursday by the Biden administration in a bid to block the proposed merger of two of the world's leading video game companies, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard--a $69 billion deal the Federal Trade Commission argued would "harm competition" in the nearly $200 billion gaming industry.
"Today's action is of incredible importance in ensuring fair and open competition in gaming and across the larger digital economy."
"The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft's largest ever and the largest-ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business," the FTC said in a statement.
Reacting to the lawsuit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted, "Corporate monopolies have had free rein to hike prices and harm workers, but now the Biden administration is committed to promoting competition."
Microsoft announced in January that it would acquire Activision Blizzard--whose other popular titles include the World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch franchises--for $68.7 billion. Activision Blizzard has been plagued by multiple allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, sexual battery, and labor violations.
Politico reports:
The FTC voted, 3-1 to issue the complaint, with all three Democrats--Lina Khan, Alvaro Bedoya, and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter--supporting the move, and Republican Christine S. Wilson voting no...
The lawsuit is the FTC's biggest move yet under Chair Lina Khan to rein in the power of the world's largest technology companies. It is also a major black mark for Microsoft, which has positioned itself as a white knight of sorts on antitrust issues in the tech sector after going through its own grueling regulatory antitrust battles around the world more than two decades ago.
Microsoft president Brad Smith responded to the suit by insisting that "we continue to believe that our deal to acquire Activision Blizzard will expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers."
However, Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, called the proposed merger "unlawful" and said it "will undermine the vitality of an important sector of the American economy and consolidate the video game industry into a small group of firms who control walled gardens of content, data, and advertising."
Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director at the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly group, warned that "if Microsoft acquired Activision, it could use Activision's valuable portfolio of games as a competitive weapon, withholding titles from rival consoles or offering lower quality versions of them, to give its own Xbox and cloud-gaming service a leg-up."
"The FTC recognized this threat of unfair competition and made the right choice, once again showing it takes vertical mergers seriously," Vaheesan added. "If giants like Microsoft want to expand, they should invest in their own capacity and hire more workers, instead of snapping up firms in adjacent markets. We hope the court sees the merits in the FTC's case and stops this harmful consolidation."
Matt Kent, competition policy advocate for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement that "today's action is of incredible importance in ensuring fair and open competition in gaming and across the larger digital economy. The FTC is showing, once again, that it is serious about enforcing the law, reversing corporate concentration, and taking on the tough cases."
"The proposed deal raises too many red flags to proceed, especially considering that Microsoft is already operating in several concentrated sectors of the economy including consumer electronics, cloud computing, software development, hardware development, internet search, social networking, virtual reality, and video gaming," Kent continued.
"This deal should be stopped," he added. "If allowed to purchase a key video game developer like Activision, Microsoft would be positioned to dominate gaming into the future and unfairly disadvantage other market participants."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.