Microsoft attempts to pick apart US legal argument against deal to buy Activision

FILE PHOTO: Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Arguing for the government on Tuesday in its legal fight against Microsoft's $69 billion deal to buy game maker Activision Blizzard, Harvard economist Robin Lee struggled at times to plainly demonstrate how the planned deal would hurt gamers.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal judge to stop the transaction temporarily in order to allow the agency's in-house judge to decide if it can go forward. That said, the side that loses in federal court often concedes and the in-house process does not go forward. Lee was pressed by an attorney for Microsoft over the details of his analyses of potential market share gains for the Redmond, Washington-based company’s Xbox division, particularly the effect on gamers who would migrate due to the wildly popular "Call of Duty" videogame which is made by Activision.