FTC Official Withdraws Internal Suit, Pausing Microsoft-Activision Merger Trial

An official from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has withdrawn the agency's internal lawsuit against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, following two defeats in court earlier this month. The FTC had sought to block the $69 billion merger, but a federal judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied their requests. Microsoft and Activision have also asked the FTC to drop the in-house lawsuit and extended the acquisition deadline until October 18.