The fate of what could be the priciest merger in tech industry history will soon be in the hands of a federal judge who must decide whether to stop Microsoft from closing its deal to buy video game company Activision Blizzard.
And much of the decision could rest on a single Activision blockbuster franchise, the military commando game Call of Duty, and whether Microsoft could harm competition by owning it.
But Microsoft has largely had the upper hand in the 5-day San Francisco federal court hearing that's scheduled to end Thursday, calling in its CEO Satya Nadella and other executives, including longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, to testify in favor of the merger. "The relief the FTC seeks is not only unprecedented but deal-killing," said Microsoft's lead attorney, Beth Wilkinson, in a final written defense filed Thursday.
"Why don't you sort of be a little bit more precise?" Corley said. She added later:"It's not the harm to Sony we care about. It's the harm to the consumer." "The possibility of making Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox was never assessed or discussed with me, nor was it even mentioned in any of the presentations to or discussions with the Board of Directors," said Microsoft's chief financial officer, Amy Hood, in written testimony filed before Thursday's court session. Hood sat in the courtroom Thursday but wasn't asked to take the stand.
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