Just one day after the court ruling that helped clear the way for Microsoft to close on its purchase of Activision in the United States, the FTC announced that it is appealing the decision.
Filed on Wednesday, the commission has made its intentions clear.
“Notice is hereby given that Plaintiff Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) appeals to the United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from this Court’s Opinion,” the document reads.
As far as what’s next, the FTC will have to submit its full appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. When that is done, the full argument of the appeal will be made known.
Even should the appeal fail, Microsoft and the FTC will go to court once again. This time in August. During that case, it will be the full case brought on by the FTC to try and block Microsoft from closing its purchase of Activision Blizzard. The recent ruling against the FTC was to have a preliminary injunction placed on Microsoft to stop the company from moving forward until after its August court case.
Without the preliminary injunction in place, Microsoft could hypothetically close on the deal over the next week ahead of the deal deadline of July 18.
Despite the apparent major win for Microsoft, the company still has some hurdles to overcome in order to fully close on the deal. Those hurdles include its fight against the UK CMA that is set to head back to court for Microsoft’s appeal on July 24.
What to make of the latest turn of events in Microsoft’s attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard with the FTC appealing? For more Insider Gaming, check out who the latest rumored operators are for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.
