Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission planned to file a lawsuit to stop Microsoft’s US$69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it argues would enable the company to “suppress competitors” to its Xbox consoles and its subscription content and cloud gaming business. The deal could reduce PlayStation’s ability to compete since it would give Microsoft ownership of the Call of Duty series; the former being the ones to convince the FTC that the deal was against them.

Microsoft and Activision is countering the lawsuit by arguing that the merger would be procompetitive and benefit consumers by making CoD games more broadly available.

“The acquisition of a single game by the third-place console manufacturer cannot upend a highly competitive industry. That is particularly so when the manufacturer has made clear it will not withhold the game.

The fact that Xbox’s dominant competitor has thus far refused to accept Xbox’s proposal does not justify blocking a transaction that will benefit consumers. Giving consumers high-quality content in more ways and at lower prices is what the antitrust laws are supposed to promote, not prevent.

Any suggestion that Microsoft’s statements to the European Commission about ZeniMax were misleading is incorrect. Microsoft explicitly said it would honor Sony’s existing exclusivity rights and approach exclusivity for future game titles on a case-by-case basis, which is exactly what it has done.

The European Commission agrees it was not misled, stating publicly the day after the Complaint that Microsoft did not make any ‘commitments’ to the European Commission, nor did the European Commission ‘rely on any statements made by Microsoft about the future distribution strategy concerning ZeniMax’s games'”.

Activision Blizzard also responded, stating that the FTC is misreading the realities of the competitive gaming industry and “turning antitrust on its head”.

“The FTC ignores the significant benefits of the Transaction in favour of a warped attempt to ignore the facts and rewrite antitrust law and settled precedent to protect Xbox’s competitors from hypothetical harm that has no basis in marketplace realities.

Adding Activision’s content to multigame subscription and cloud gaming, where it would not have been available otherwise, is plainly output enhancing and gives garners more options on how and where to engage with Activision content. Activision, and particularly its King division, will also enable the acceleration of Xbox’s early non-existent mobile gaming business, which would enhance competition in the fastest growing segment of gaming. And the transaction will ultimately expand the capital support and talent available to Activision’s game development studios, driving further innovation in new games and technologies.”