The US regulator, the FTC = Federal Trade Commission, has filed a lawsuit to block the acquisition of a major game company by IT giant Microsoft, arguing that it may hinder market competition.
In January this year, Microsoft announced that it would acquire Activision Blizzard, a major American game company that handles the popular game "Call of Duty", for $ 68.7 billion, or approximately 9.3 trillion yen in Japanese yen. .
Regarding this, the FTC = Federal Trade Commission in the United States filed a complaint on the 8th to block the plan.
The FTC points out that Microsoft's acquisition could hinder market competition by preventing competitors from handling the Activision Blizzard game.
Meanwhile, Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft, posted on his Twitter account, "We continue to believe that this acquisition will increase competition and create more opportunities for game users and developers." showed a fighting stance.
Microsoft is trying to strengthen its virtual space Metaverse business on the Internet by acquiring a major game company, and there is a view that future business will be affected depending on the outcome of the lawsuit.