The Federal Trade Commission on Monday applied for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction seeking to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard before the deal's July 18 deadline.
If the deal falls apart, Microsoft might wind up owing Activision Blizzard a termination fee worth up to $3 billion.
The FTC sued to block the acquisition in December 2022, choosing to bring the case before its internal administrative law judge.
A hearing on the FTC's case will begin on Aug. 2, the agency said in Monday's filing.
Regulators had originally felt that Microsoft might be able to prevent other companies from distributing Activision Blizzard games on other consoles other than Microsoft's Xbox.
Persons:
Satya Nadella, it's, Brad Smith, Bobby Kotick, Smith, Jeremy Hunt, Jim Ryan, Lulu Cheng Meservey
Organizations:
Microsoft Corp, Bloomberg, Economic, Federal Trade Commission, Activision Blizzard, CNBC, FTC, Microsoft, Activision, Sony, Xbox, Competition, Markets Authority, Regulators, Sony PlayStation, Sony Interactive
Locations:
Davos, Switzerland, U.S