The Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals has thrown out a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its opposition of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. 

In its ruling – as reported by Bloomberg – Judge Daniel P Collins said that the FTC had failed to show that Microsoft would stop Call of Duty coming to other platforms in the future, which was the core of the agency's case. As such, the appeals court believes that Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley made the right decision when they stopped the FTC from blocking the deal back in 2023. 

"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," Collins wrote. 

"Thus, the FTC had not raised serious questions regarding whether the proposed merger was likely to substantially lessen competition in the relevant markets."

Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard in 2022; what followed was a slew of antitrust cases around the world, mostly owing to Call of Duty and the Xbox firm's cloud business, which the FTC believed would constitute a monopoly. 

The deal was approved in 2023.