The US Federal Trade Commission has been granted a temporary restraining order against Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This means the deal is now officially on hold until the courts can rule on the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction against the closure of the deal—which is itself a temporary measure aimed at halting the deal until the FTC's legal challenge against the acquisition is completed.
As reported by The Verge, the FTC filed for the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on June 12, apparently out of concern that Microsoft would move to close the deal despite UK regulators ruling against it. The proposed acquisition has been approved in numerous other jurisdictions, including the European Union and China. The UK ruling is currently under appeal, while in the US a lawsuit filed by the FTC in December 2022 is still working its way through the courts.
