After losing its recent court battle with Microsoft, the FTC decided to launch an appeal over the verdict earlier this week. It filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit on July 12, also requesting a stay from the Northern District Court of California to prevent the deal from closing until the appeal is ruled on since the merger deadline of July 18 is fast-approaching. It's a last ditch attempt by the FTC to stop it from happening, and it's now catching a lot of heat from all sides.
First off, FTC boss Lina Khan was grilled by Republican politicians in a hearing earlier today over the agency's consistent failings (thanks IGN). Specifically, Khan was accused of wasting taxpayer money and criticised for the agencies recent failed attempts in antitrust cases like the recnt court battle against Microsoft's imminent acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
"You seem to be losing quite a bit, and I don't say that to be disrespectful, but these are, after all, taxpayer funds," stated Representative Kevin Kiley. "You are now 0-4 in merger trials. The average win rate for the FTC in the modern antitrust era is around 75 percent. So I have to ask, why are you losing so much?"
"The court not only rejected your assertion of a likely anti-competitive effect but found just the opposite. The record evidence points to more consumer access. So why should Americans have faith in your judgment when this Biden-appointed judge says you're so far off the mark?"
High profile executives at Blizzard were also pretty keen to jump on the bandwagon, including Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra, who ironically tweeted "Your tax dollars at work" regarding the appeal. Given Activision Blizzard's allegedly dodgy history with its own income tax, I think Ybarra might not want to be throwing stones in glass houses.
Finally, the Xbox diehards also have also been out in full force, fuming at the FTC's recent attempt to do its job. Not only have Xbox fans been riled up on social media over the past 24 hours, but they also somehow managed to vandalize the FTC's wikipedia page, having briefly replaced the agency's flag with a PlayStation logo due to many's belief that it's acting in service of Sony rather than consumers.
Given how poorly the FTC did in court against Microsoft, it probably should give the whole thing up as a lost cause, but the amount of people gleeful over Activision Blizzard's imminent acquisition and joyously dogpiling the FTC is definitely cause for a bit of concern.