Microsoft overcame significant obstacles in its attempt to acquire video-game developer Activision Blizzard after a US judge approved the $69 billion transaction and a British regulator said it would rethink its stance.

As the US and Britain blocked what would have been Microsoft's largest merger ever and the largest transaction in the history of the video-game industry, Activision shares rose 10 percent on the day. Shares of Microsoft increased 64 cents to $332.47.

The Biden administration claimed that the agreement would harm consumers by giving Xbox game console-maker Microsoft exclusive access to games like the best-selling ‘Call of Duty’, but US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco dismissed this claim.

“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,” she wrote.

“The various testimonies that have surfaced during the U.S. trial all weaken the UK’s antitrust watchdog’s arguments,” said Joost Van Dreunen, a lecturer at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

“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,” she wrote.

The British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced it was ready to hear Microsoft's suggestions to address antitrust concerns in the UK shortly after the American judge's ruling, raising the possibility that the two parties may reach an agreement.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the US had suggested that Microsoft would be able to utilize the Activision games to marginalize competing console manufacturers like Nintendo and market leader Sony Group.

According to a PwC prediction, gaming market sales will rise by 36 percent to $321 billion over the following four years.