Activision stock rises amid court ruling in favor of Microsoft deal

Shares of game maker Activision Blizzard rose 11% to $91.83 after a judge refused to block Microsoft's acquisition deal, Business Insider writes.

Such a decision is disadvantageous to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has scheduled a hearing on the merger for August this year. Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of game publisher promises to be the biggest tech merger ever.

In its ruling, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said the FTC provided no evidence to support the claim that the merger would harm competition in the gaming industry by expanding access to popular Activision game franchises like Call of Duty.

The deal is opposed by competing firms, most notably Sony (TYO:6758), which makes the Playstation 5, Microsoft's main competitor to the Xbox Series X/S. The company is worried that Microsoft will make popular game franchises exclusive to its consoles, despite all Microsoft's assurances that it will not do so.

As a result, many popular games have moved exclusively to the Xbox console, including Elder Scrolls, Starfield, which is due out this fall, which was previously planned for release on both Xbox and Playstation.

As for the FTC and the Biden administration, which has sought to curtail huge mergers that it says hurt competition and hurt consumers, the ruling is a huge blow to them.