Although Microsoft’s blockbuster deal to buy Activision Blizzard was approved in October 2023, the United States government’s Federal Trade Commission appealed the decision. Now, a US appeals court has affirmed the deal, bringing about an apparent end to the FTC’s attempts to block the buyout.

As reported by Bloomberg, the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals declared on Wednesday that the trial judge in the case, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, was correct in denying the FTC’s attempt to prevent the $75.4 billion deal from going through.

A chief concern from the FTC pertained to cloud gaming. To satisfy the FTC, Microsoft carved out deals to bring Xbox games to non-Xbox streaming platforms, but the FTC appealed. Now, that appeal has been denied.

“The panel held that the district court applied the correct legal standards and did not abuse its discretion, or rely on clearly erroneous findings, in holding that the FTC failed to make a sufficient evidentiary showing to establish the requisite likelihood of success on the merits of its claim,” the appeals court said. “Thus, the FTC had not raised serious questions regarding whether the proposed merger was likely to substantially lessen competition in the relevant markets.”

Additionally, the appeals panel upheld the district court’s decision that the FTC failed to sufficiently show that Microsoft would make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox or release an “inferior” version on PlayStation. The appeals court also concluded that Activision games launching on Game Pass–an Xbox-exclusive subscription service–would not “substantially lessen competition.”

As part of Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard, the company said it would keep releasing Call of Duty games on rival platforms for at least 10 years. Microsoft’s releases on PS5 so far have proven to be quite successful.

The FTC’s case against Microsoft was driven in part by FTC head Lina Khan. When President Trump took office in January 2025, he installed Andrew N. Ferguson as the new FTC chair.

With Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard already approved, it’s unclear how the two companies could have been untangled had the appeal been successful.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $75.4 billion was Microsoft’s biggest-ever acquisition by purchase price, and the biggest gaming buyout of all time.