😆 This reads like they’re choosing to drop it because they want to focus on other things, when the reality is that just the other day they lost their appeal to have it blocked (after their original court loss to have it blocked, this was them also losing the appeal) lol.

https://www.ign.com/articles/ftc-loses-appeal-challenging-microsofts-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard

The FTC’s appeal to block Microsoft’s $69 billion deal to acquire the company behind Call of Duty was denied by San Francisco’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today, further cementing a purchase that was originally announced in late 2022 (via Reuters). It was a move decided by a three-judge panel that brought an end to the FTC’s questioning of the July 2023 decision to allow Microsoft to finalize its purchase.

Lina Khan turned the FTC into an absolute joke, and they’re going to have a hard time undoing all the damage she did. They never should have even attempted to block this acquisition. The FTCs entire argument was “yeah sure they’ll still be coming last in the market, but they’ll have a monopoly somehow” lol. Realistically what they were trying to do was just tie it up in court as long as possible, hoping that the EU would block it. When the EU didn’t block it, the FTC went into panic mode because they had no case. They were made to look amateur in court, and they were lambasted by the judges for the waste of time and lack of reasons for the court case.

The FTC hoped that the EU would block the deal, and then the FTC would look like they won as well. Instead they were made to look stupid in court.