On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission announced a lawsuit to block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard, the developers of the Call of Duty and Overwatch franchises. The FTC alleges that the settlement would give Microsoft an unfair advantage over its competitors in the gaming industry, essentially creating a monopoly.
Microsoft announced the planned acquisition, reportedly worth $68.7 billion, in January. The FTC called it the largest settlement ever made in the video game industry.
“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Office of Competition, said in a statement. “Today we seek to prevent Microsoft from gaining control of a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamics and…