Microsoft will fight US over $68.7B Activision Blizzard deal

Microsoft is headed for a battle with the Federal Trade Commission over whether the U.S. will block the tech giant's planned takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft on Thursday filed a formal challenge to the FTC lawsuit's declaring the $68.7 billion deal an illegal acquisition that should be stopped.

After years of avoiding the political backlash that has been directed at big tech peers such as Amazon and Google, the software giant now appears to be on a collision course with U.S. regulators emboldened by President Joe Biden's push to get tough on anti-competitive behavior.

The FTC claims the merger could violate antitrust laws by suppressing competitors to Microsoft’s Xbox game console and its growing Xbox Game Pass subscription business.

At the center of the dispute is Microsoft's rivalry with PlayStation-maker Sony to secure popular Activision Blizzard franchises like the military shooter game Call of Duty.

Microsoft’s response to the FTC tries to downplay Xbox’s role in the industry, describing itself as the “third-place manufacturer of gaming consoles" behind Sony and Nintendo, and one of just many publishers of popular video games with “next to no presence in mobile gaming,” where it is trying to make gains.

The dispute could be a difficult test case for Biden-appointed FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has sought to strengthen enforcement of antitrust rules. The FTC voted 3-1 earlier in December to issue the complaint seeking to block the deal, with Khan and the two other Democratic commissioners voting in favor and the sole Republican voting against.

The deal is also under close scrutiny in the European Union and the United Kingdom, where investigations aren’t due to be completed until next year.

The FTC's complaint points to Microsoft’s 2021...