The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint on Thursday against Microsoft's planned takeover of the video game company Activision Blizzard, valued at $69 billion.
The FTC believes that the deal could give Microsoft's Xbox game console and game subscription business an unfair advantage over its competitors.
In a press release issued by the FTC, the vote to file a complaint was 3 -- 1, with Rep. Christine S. Wilson voting against the measure.
Microsoft acquired parent company ZeniMax and Bethesda Softworks earlier in the day. Microsoft will make certain game titles exclusive to Xbox under those platforms.
Microsoft will make Starfield and Redfall exclusive to their platform, despite assurances that it would not be given to European antitrust authorities, according to the press release.
Holly Vedova, the director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a prepared statement that Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals. Today, we want to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets. The Xbox Series S and Series X are two of Microsoft's game consoles. The Xbox Game Pass is a video game content subscription service that gives gamers access to hundreds of games for a monthly fee.
Activision is one of only a few game developers in the world that publishes high-quality games for multiple devices, according to the press release. Call of Duty is for Xbox, but is also created for PCs and Sony PlayStation.
According to the FTC's complaint, it produces some of the most iconic and popular video game titles, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch. Activision has a strategy to offer its games on a wide variety of devices, regardless of the producer. That could change if the deal is allowed to proceed. The FTC claims that if Microsoft takes control of the Activision franchise, it will have the means and motive to harm competition by manipulating Activision's pricing, degrading the game quality and player experience on rival consoles, and more.
The FTC issues an administrative complaint when it believes that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The administrative complaint is the beginning of a proceeding in which the allegations will be tried in a formal hearing before an administrative law judge.
Fox reached out to Microsoft for comment.