CRA Competition supported Microsoft’s historic $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, providing expertise across all jurisdictions—including the FTC challenge, the European Commission and CMA review processes, and clearance decisions by dozens of other countries worldwide.
In the United States, CRA’s US Competition team advised Microsoft and Activision Blizzard in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) legal challenge to the transaction. CRA’s Dr. Elizabeth Bailey provided expert testimony and economic analysis during a high-profile evidentiary hearing in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Her live direct examination was the only expert testimony presented at trial. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley cited Dr. Bailey’s analysis extensively in her July 2023 decision denying the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The Ninth Circuit later upheld this ruling, and in May 2025, the FTC formally dismissed its administrative complaint, concluding its legal opposition to the deal. Additionally, CRA’s Professor Fiona Scott Morton provided advisory support to the parties during the FTC’s investigation.
Concurrently, CRA’s European Competition team advised Microsoft on merger control filings and regulatory reviews across numerous jurisdictions. The European Commission cleared the deal in May 2023, subject to Microsoft’s commitments to ensure access to Activision Blizzard content via cloud streaming services. In October 2023, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also cleared the transaction following Microsoft’s divestiture of cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft — addressing the CMA’s vertical foreclosure concerns. CRA’s work extended to supporting Microsoft through reviews by competition authorities in China, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, South Africa, Chile, New Zealand, and others.
