Microsoft acquired mega-publisher Activision Blizzard for an industry-changing $70 billion, with the deal closing about 18 months ago following an extensive legal grilling.
While many governing bodies around the world approved of the deal, the USA's Federal Trade Commission was one of the few to stand against it — in fact, it's still fighting its corner.
Essentially, the FTC has been fighting the acquisition since it was first mooted, arguing that it would be harmful to industry competition.
Ultimately the deal went ahead, but the FTC continued to challenge it, asking the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court's decision not to issue a preliminary injunction, which would've frozen the deal.
The 9th Circuit Court recently decided to uphold the decision, saying the lower judge "had applied the correct legal standards" and that the FTC did not have sufficient evidence that the acquisition would damage competition.
In other words, the FTC's appeal was shot down, and nothing's going to change.
Whether the competition regulator will continue to pursue Microsoft's acquisition remains to be seen, though it seems unlikely at this stage.