Watchdog: Game Over for Lina Khan’s Latest Overreach

For Immediate Release                                                   Contact: Courtney Mattison (202) 525-7492

July 11, 2023                                                                            

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal judge on Tuesday greenlit Microsoft’s acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard, stifling the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) attempt to block the deal. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley correctly rejected the FTC’s assertions that the deal would be anticompetitive. In fact, she wrote, “the merger has the procompetitive effect of expanding access to Call of Duty” by adding it to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The deal will also lower consumer prices, the Corley opinion concluded.

Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) Executive Director Patrick Hedger offered the following comment:

“TPA would like to congratulate the FTC on another well-deserved and hard-earned loss. To advance its own radical agenda – which contravenes both the will of Congress and established judicial precedent – the FTC pursued a very silly case that, if successful, would have hamstrung an iconic and productive American company against larger Chinese and Japanese competitors. That case was predicated on questionable legal theories, manifestly flawed expert testimony, and scant hard evidence. It even resorted to advancing trivial gripes such as the concern that some PlayStation users might be unable to access holiday-themed character skins.

“Microsoft made clear that it would not withhold Call of Duty from users of competing gaming platforms. Nonetheless, the FTC pushed on, for all intents and purposes performing (intentionally or unintentionally) as a lackey serving the corporate interests of Microsoft’s competition. The agency was protecting competitors, not the competitive process as it should.

“FTC Chair Lina Khan will testify before Congress in less than 48 hours. Taxpayers have a right to know why her agency is wasting taxpayer funds on frivolous lawsuits against American companies that play a crucial role in the modern economy. Khan has asked for a huge bump in funding for her agency. Congress should reject that request if Khan plans on using it to further these sorts of ideologically driven vanity projects.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.