However, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled on 11 June: “The FTC has not shown it is likely to succeed on ♣ its assertion the combined firm will probably pull Call of Duty from Sony PlayStation, or that its ownership of Activision ♣ content will substantially lessen competition in the video game library subscription and cloud gaming markets.”

“From Day One of this acquisition, ♣ we’ve been committed to addressing the concerns of regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers,” said Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, ♣ in a tweet. “Even after we cross the finish line for this deal’s approval, we will remain focused on ensuring ♣ that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”

Microsoft has a deadline of ♣ 18 July to complete the transaction with Activision Blizzard although both companies could choose to extend that deadline.

Regulators in the ♣ EU had approved the takeover deal in May, a move that drew immediate protest from the UK counterpart, the Competition ♣ and Markets Authority, which had blocked the deal in April. However, the CMA said on 11 June that it was ♣ prepared to negotiate with Microsoft over the deal.