Supreme Court denies gamer lawuit to block Microsoft’s impending Activision deal

The US Supreme Court has denied a request from a group of players who sought to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan denied the emergency request which was filed on Saturday, in what was seemingly a last-ditch effort to block the deal.

The injunction argued that the deal should be temporarily blocked pending the FTC’s own attempted appeal to the Ninth Circuit court. Much like the Supreme Court, however, the Ninth Circuit denied the FTC’s appeal.

Last December they filed a complaint in a federal court in California, arguing that the $69 billion deal could substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly in violation of the Clayton Act.

Microsoft was recently effectively cleared to acquire Activision in the US after winning a court battle with antirust regulator the Federal Trade Commission.

However, the company has yet to seal the approval of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which remains one of the last major roadblocks to the deal closing.

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Microsoft and UK regulator given extra time to resolve Activision deal issues

Competition tribunal grants two-month pause of appeal over merger block

Last week the CMA extended the deadline for its final decision on the deal from today until August 29 so that it could consider a fresh proposal from Microsoft.

The Xbox maker is reportedly considering selling some of its UK cloud gaming rights in a bid to gain approval for the merger.

Last weekend, Xbox boss Phil Spencer tweeted that the binding agreement, which Microsoft has claimed has been sitting ready and waiting to be signed for a number of months now, had finally been signed by Sony.

The deal will reportedly last 10 years.