The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will review Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, to ensure the buyout does not harm competition.
Microsoft announced the deal last month, which will make it the third-largest company in the games industry, behind only TenCent and Sony.
Also Read: Game on for Microsoft as it acquires Activision Blizzard in mega deal
In a break from tradition, the Department of Justice will not work alongside the FTC for the investigation, and Bloomberg reported the timing of the review is very close to FTC's announcement that it would be strengthening anti-merger guidelines.
The investigation will focus on Activision Blizzard's game library and look at how it will benefit Microsoft's consoles and hardware division. The FTC will pay close attention to how the deal may limit access to Activision Blizzard's games on other platforms, which could harm competition.
Also Read: Sony's PlayStation buys Bungie, game studio with Xbox ties
In other news, Sony has shelled out $3.6 billion to buy Bungie, the creators of the Destiny franchise. Bungie were prominently known for their work on Halo, Microsoft's flagship game series, before it signed a 10-year publishing deal with Activision for Destiny.
Bungie eventually ended its partnership with Activision and took over publishing duties for Destiny. Sony has said that despite the deal, Bungie will continue to operate as an independent, multi-platform studio. Bungie has stated that they will not lock their games behind exclusivity.
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