A US federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked Microsoft from completing its $69 billion purchase of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, according to a court filing. .
Judge Edward Davila said in his ruling that “it is necessary to maintain the status quo” while the court considers a long-term order on the acquisition, as requested by Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulators.
Pursuant to the ruling, a hearing has been scheduled for June 22 and 23 in federal court in San Francisco to hear evidence on the matter.
The ruling comes a day after the FTC asked a federal court to block Microsoft from completing its successful acquisition of Activision Blizzard while it considers regulatory measures.
“A preliminary order is required to … prevent temporary damages” while the FTC determines whether “the proposed acquisition violates US antitrust law,” the regulator said in the filing.
Tuesday’s ruling prevents Microsoft from moving forward with the settlement before the court decides whether to issue the preliminary order requested by regulators.
By requesting the injunction to the Court for the Northern District of California, the US government intended to prevent the companies from finalizing the deal before the July 18 deadline.
In August, an FTC hearing is scheduled to discuss the merits of the settlement, and a restraining order would block the settlement before the lawsuit moves forward.
The Californian judge would have to agree to stop the deal after hearing the FTC’s arguments about why the purchase is illegal and Microsoft’s arguments about why it should proceed.
Microsoft, owner of the Xbox, submitted an offer early last year for Activision Blizzard, with the aim of becoming the third largest electronic games company in the world in terms of revenue, behind China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony, maker of the PlayStation.
Although the European Union gave the green light to the operation, the UK Markets and Competition Authority (CMA) blocked it in April, arguing that it would hurt competition in cloud gaming.
The FTC filed a lawsuit in December to block the transaction with Activision Blizzard, maker of popular games “Call of Duty” and “World of Warcraft”, for fear it would stifle competition.
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