Microsoft could face antitrust lawsuit in the US to block Activision Blizzard takeover

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to stop Microsoft's $69 billion bid to buy video game publisher Activision Blizzard.

A lawsuit against the deal isn't confirmd yet, and the FTC's four commissioners haven't voted on a complaint or met with the companies' lawyers yet, according to the report. The FTC staff looking at the deal are also skeptical of the companies' claims.

Microsoft, which makes the Xbox game console, announced in January that it would buy Activision, which makes games like Call of Duty and Candy Crush. This was the biggest deal in the history of the gaming industry, and it came as global technology companies staked their claims on a virtual future.

Microsoft hopes that the purchase will help it compete better with Tencent and Sony, which are the top two video game companies.

The deal is being looked at outside of the US as well. Earlier, this month, the EU began a full-scale investigation on this deal as well. The EU's competition watchdog said it would decide whether to approve or block the deal by March 23, 2023.

EU's antitrust regulator has said that the deal could hurt the industry if Microsoft didn't let other companies play Activision's best-selling games.

Sony, which makes the Playstation console, has said that the deal is bad because Microsoft could control popular games like Call of Duty.

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