Former FTC Lawyer Blasts UK Agency For Blocking Microsoft-Activision Deal

Everyone has an opinion on the blockbuster merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, but not everyone has served as a top lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission. In a recent article, former General Counsel of the FTC Alden Abbott opined that the UK's Competition and Markets Authority should not have blocked the deal from proceeding, saying that the body did not fully consider the facts.

In the piece, Abbott argues that the CMA overstated the impact of cloud gaming in the short-term, pointing out that the promising technology has yet to make significant inroads with consumers yet. "Although cloud gaming does not require the purchase of specific gaming devices, it does require substantial bandwidth, stable internet connections, and subscriptions to particular services," he writes.

He also agrees with a common argument advanced by advocates of the deal, which is that Microsoft is unlikely to remove Call Of Duty from PlayStation as a platform because it simply makes so much money, and the company faces competition from many other players in the space besides Sony. He concludes by stating that the decision may threaten similar "efficiencies-generating" acquisitions in the future. It's worth noting that though the CMA's initial decision has been made, the case is still ongoing, with Microsoft and Activision appealing the decision.

Abbott served in his position in the FTC from 2018 to early 2021, which means that he served under the conservative Trump administration. Abbott is currently a fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a think tank that is widely described as libertarian in outlook. As such, it shouldn't be surprising that he's skeptical of this sort of market regulation, as libertarians generally oppose such moves on conceptual grounds. Prior to working in government, Abbott worked as an adjunct professor at George Mason's Antonin Scalia Law School, which is named after arguably the most famous libertarian jurist in American history.

Within the gaming industry, Sony has emerged as a stalwart opponent of the deal, whereas companies like Nvidia have expressed their support for it.