While the video crippled manufacture continues to hold and spot if the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) volition record an antitrust suit to artifact Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is speaking retired again connected wherefore the projected woody is supposedly "good for gamers."

The Wall Street Journal posted an sentiment portion by Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith, successful which Smith addressed Sony's stance arsenic the acquisition's biggest opponent.

"Sony has emerged arsenic the loudest objector," Smith wrote. "It’s arsenic excited astir this woody arsenic Blockbuster was astir the emergence of Netflix." To adjacent his piece, Smith said, "Think astir however overmuch amended it is to watercourse a movie from your sofa than thrust to Blockbuster. We privation to bring the aforesaid benignant of innovation to the videogame industry."

Despite comparing Sony to the obsolete video store, Smith carried connected Microsoft's ongoing self-deprecation strategy by saying Xbox "remains successful 3rd spot successful console gaming, stuck down Sony’s ascendant PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch."

Microsoft's president besides claimed that Xbox doesn't person capable games to gully players to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass, and erstwhile again reiterated Microsoft's plans to support Call of Duty a multiplatform franchise.

"To get subscribers to this service, Microsoft needs a afloat room of fashionable games and, arsenic things stand, we simply don’t person enough," Smith wrote.

In November, Politico reported that the FTC was "likely" to record an antitrust lawsuit to artifact the tremendous acquisition. At the time, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told IGN that "Any proposition that the transaction could pb to anticompetitive effects is wholly absurd".

The study pointed retired that the suit is not guaranteed, and that the FTC's 4 commissioners hadn't yet met with the lawyers from Microsoft and Activision. However, the FTC commissioners are reportedly skeptical of the companies' arguments, and the committee has recently sued to artifact 2 immense mergers, indicating there's a bully accidental the aforesaid could hap here.

If the FTC does record an antitrust lawsuit, a caller study from Bloomberg indicates that "Microsoft is gearing up to contention that determination successful court".

Smith's sentiment portion is the latest successful a drawstring of statements from Microsoft attempting to propulsion the merger through. Multiple times passim the acquisition reappraisal process, Microsoft has promised that Activision's Call of Duty volition stay connected PlayStation pursuing the takeover. Microsoft has besides called PlayStation too large to fail portion saying Xbox has a “number of important disadvantages” compared to its rival platforms.

Sony is playing the self-deprecation crippled too, saying Battlefield can't support up with Call of Duty, and claiming, "Game Pass leads PlayStation Plus significantly."

The FTC's probe is the latest obstacle to Microsoft's projected acquisition, arsenic the woody has besides been enactment nether the microscope by the European Commission, the multiple U.S. senators, New York City, and the U.S. Justice Department.

Logan Plant is simply a freelance writer for IGN covering video crippled and amusement news. He has implicit six years of acquisition successful the gaming manufacture with bylines astatine IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him connected Twitter @LoganJPlant.