The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion Wednesday affirming a denial of a preliminary injunction the FTC had sought for Microsoft's now-completed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has lost its appeal of a ruling in its case against Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In 2023, the FTC requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the companies from finalizing the deal while its legal challenge to the acquisition from 2022 was in progress.

Although Microsoft's blockbuster deal to buy Activision Blizzard was approved in October 2023, the United States government's Federal Trade Commission appealed the decision. Now, a US appeals court has affirmed the deal, bringing about an apparent end to the FTC's attempts to block the buyout.