A federal judge set the date for the first pretrial hearing between Microsoft and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The two will go to court on January 3 to discuss the fate of Microsoft and its $69 billion bid to buy Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard. Microsoft and Activision announced a merger in early 2022, with the tech giant saying it expects the deal to close no later than June 2023. Last month, the FTC sued Microsoft to block the acquisition from moving forward. .

We’re working to prevent Microsoft from gaining control of a leading game studio

“Microsoft has shown that it can withhold content from its competitors, and it will,” FTC Director Holly Vedova said at the time. “Today we’re working to prevent Microsoft from gaining control of a leading game studio and use it to undermine competition in some of the fastest growing gaming markets.”

The FTC is expected to face an uphill battle trying to convince judges of the merits of its case. On the other hand, if the merger goes through, Microsoft has been committed to releasing future Call of Duty games on competing platforms for at least 10 years. He also said that he wanted to bring the franchise to Nintendo consoles.

“The Commission was unable to demonstrate that the transaction would make consumers worse off because it would allow Activision’s games to be played on new platforms and accessed in new and more accessible ways,” Microsoft said in a legal filing last month. The deal also faces regulatory scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which recently said it would carry out an “in-depth” investigation into mergers between the companies.

Water fountain: winbuzzer