The US Federal Trade Commission could be about to pause its battle with Microsoft over its impending Activision Blizzard deal.
According toBloomberg, citing people familiar with the case, this could open the possibility of a potential settlement between the groups.
Should the FTC withdraw its case, it would open the parties to discuss a settlement, ifMicrosoftandActivisionare able to convince the FTC’s commissioners to come to the table.
According to the report, an order to withdraw the trial could come as soon as later today.
On Wednesday, Microsoft andActivision Blizzardagreed to extend their merger agreement until June 08, 2025.
The move to extend the agreement came after their initial self-imposed deadline to complete the $69 billion dealexpired on Tuesday.
The European Commissionapproved the transaction in May, and last week the deal wascleared in the United Statesafter Microsoft won a court battle with the Federal Trade Commission.
However, the company has yet to seal the approval of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which remains a major roadblock to the deal closing.
XboxbossPhil Spencersaid: “We’re optimistic about getting this done and excited about bringing more games to more players everywhere.”
Further reading
Last week theCMA extended the deadline for its final decisionon the deal until August 29 so that it could consider a fresh proposal from Microsoft.
The Xbox maker is reportedly consideringselling some of its UK cloud gaming rightsin a bid to gain approval for the merger.
