GOP to FTC: Stop Pursuing an End to Microsoft-Activision Blizzard Purchase

House Republicans don’t want the Federal Trade Commission to pursue further action to prevent Microsoft from making its largest acquisition in the gaming industry yet.

Led by North Dakota Congressman Kelly Armstrong, a group of 22 Republican members of the House of Representatives signed and delivered a letter to the FTC on Monday demanding that the regulatory body, which is led by President Joe Biden appointee Lina Khan, stop attempting to block the tech company from buying Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion.

In the letter, the GOP members appear to side with Microsoft, calling the pending acquisition a “pro-competitive transaction.” They also called the regulatory body’s most recent failed legal pursuits in the case “the latest and most egregious example of the FTC’s rejection of sound antitrust policy.”

“We write to express our concerns, and to urge you to drop this matter and refocus the FTC’s resources on work that supports the interests of American consumers,” the letter reads. “Instead of protecting competition as Congress intended, the FTC has spent taxpayer resources seeking to block a deal that promises to expand consumer choice and insulate a dominant foreign company from competition.”

It is likely that the “dominant foreign company” referenced in the letter is Sony, the Japanese corporation behind the Playstation, though it could also be referencing Nintendo. During the five-day federal court hearing between Microsoft and the FTC, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California decided that both were able competitors to Microsoft’s Xbox brand in the video game market.

It isn’t a surprise to see Republicans criticize the FTC’s leadership, as the GOP has frequently done so in the past. Earlier this year, the House GOP-led Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the FTC for pursuing an investigation of Twitter and its divisive CEO Elon Musk. And last week, it grilled Khan for opposing a number of corporate mergers.

The letter comes after the FTC lost its latest attempt to prevent the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft. Judge Scott Corley denied the FTC’s ask for a stay on the merger on July 11 while it appealed her initial ruling giving the deal a green light. On July 18, the Supreme Court also declined to stall the deal, Courthouse News reported.

The victory pretty much set the stage for an imminent closure of the deal. On Monday, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal agreed to give the country’s Competitions and Markets Authority and Microsoft more time to ensure Microsoft can satisfy the British regulatory body’s concerns over Microsoft’s share in the cloud gaming market while also allowing Microsoft to keep trying to close their deal. 

The deadline for the deal is 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on July 18. If Microsoft and Activision Blizzard do not find a way forward, Microsoft is on the hook to pay Activision Blizzard billions of dollars in break-up fees. Microsoft has not responded to The Messenger's request for comment on the status of the deal.