The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has dealt another blow to Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion takeover of game publisher Activision Blizzard by filing a complaint which seeks a temporary restraining order and injunction from a US federal district court.

In a complaint, the FTC said: “Both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction are necessary because Microsoft and Activision have represented that they may consummate the proposed acquisition at any time.”

The FTC filed a legal challenge to try and block the deal in December, while the US government is also in the middle of a bigger case looking to stop the merger. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) previously blocked the deal, arguing that it would give Microsoft an effective monopoly in the burgeoning cloud gaming market.

Not all regulators have opposed the biggest tech deal in history though. The European Commission, the EU’s watchdog, waved through the merger last month and called it ‘pro-competition’.

With significant backing internationally outside of the US and UK, the FTC is concerned that the deal – which has a deadline of 18 July – could close regardless of approval in the UK and US.

The complaint continues: “Press reports began circulating suggesting that defendants were seriously contemplating closing the proposed acquisition despite the pending administrative litigation and the CMA orders.”

The case is now with a US judge who will now decide on whether to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to restrict the deal’s close for two weeks. The judge will also rule on a preliminary injunction that would prevent the takeover until the result of the FTC’s legal challenge.

While both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard came out very negatively against the CMA’s ruling, both have changed tact in their response to this FTC complaint. Microsoft president Brad Smith said: “We welcome the opportunity to present our case in federal court. We believe accelerating the legal process in the US will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the market.”

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick made a similar argument in an email to staff which describes the legal action as “a positive development in our merger progress” which “accelerates the legal process."

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