The first pre-trial hearing for the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) case against Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is set to take place today, 3 January.

The FTC is one of a number of anticompetition watchdogs from around the world which have raised concerns over the deal, which would see the Xbox maker own iconic gaming properties such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush Saga.

In December, the FTC asked a judge to block the deal on the grounds that it would allow Xbox exclusive access to Activision titles, while leaving Nintendo and Sony PlayStation consumers empty handed. For its part, Microsoft has offered to sign a legally binding consent decree with the FTC to guarantee Call of Duty’s continued place on PlayStation consoles for at least a decade, while the company has said that it would look to bring the franchise back to Nintendo consoles after an absence of more than 10 years.

While the Biden administration has taken a more stern approach to anticompetition – as demonstrated by the continued blocking of Meta’s $400 million acquisition of leading VR developer Within – however, experts have argued that the offer of voluntary concessions may be enough to sway a judge.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has also launched its own investigation into the merger, though it recently published the findings of a survey of the British public which found that around 75 per cent of respondents are in favour of the deal which would represent Microsoft’s largest ever acquisition.

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