When Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard King seemed to be a realityThe FTC has reactivated measures designed to prevent, a priori or a posteriori, those from Redmond from completing the operation launched at the beginning of last year and which during this time had to face a lot of resistance led mainly by the US and UK regulators FTC and CMA and Sony, which was really scared by the prospect of Call of Duty stopping coming to PlayStation, becoming an exclusive title for Xbox and PC.

Over time, this telenovela or escapadeHow we want to see it There were times when it seemed like everything was done and others when everything seemed to be derailing the plans.. The latter state’s flagship comes at a time when the UK’s CMA opposed the purchase, blocking UK operations. Recall that at the time, the US FTC continued to oppose the operation.

At the opposite extreme we find two key moments. The first was when US justice ruled in favor of Microsoft and Activision Blizzardand the FTC decided to suspend an internal trial run of the operation, and the second occurred last week when the CMA granted its provisional approval after Microsoft agreed to transfer the title’s cloud gaming business to Ubisoft. Activision Blizzard. At that point, we all took the surgery for granted.

However, it now appears that the US regulator waited until the last minute or the CMA’s decision to return to the fray. So as we can read in the Wccfts, The FTC has reactivated its internal lawsuit against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. It’s true, yes, what he did in July was a suspension, but given that all his attempts to stop the buying up until that point had failed, there was a general feeling that the regulator had given up.

The response from Microsoft was immediate and is in line with the plan to complete the operation before October 18, the deadline set by the parties, and that if not, Activision Blizzard will be entitled to receive a large compensation, $4,000 million for breach of contractsomething we can be very sure they will not allow in Redmond and they will take all measures within their reach.

So what is the current situation? So, A proceeding initiated at the FTC cannot stop the operation because it does not constitute a decision on the matter.. However, if the outcome of the open proceeding concludes that the purchase violates US antitrust laws, the regulator could take action to try to reverse the purchase. Something that, on the other hand, seems even more complicated. However, given all the court setbacks that have occurred so far, it doesn’t seem very likely that they will be able to achieve any success at that point.