Enlarge / The FTC’s reported filing would be more likely to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard than its previous internally litigated lawsuit. (credit: Getty Images)

A source has told Reuters that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will file an injunction seeking to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion deal.

The FTC had previously filed a lawsuit  in December seeking to block the deal, arguing that Microsoft’s acquisition of the major game studio would allow it to “suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.” In that filing, the FTC pointed to Microsoft’s prior acquisition of Bethesda Software’s parent company, Zenimax, and the subsequent making of its upcoming epic RPG Starfield exclusive to Windows and Xbox, despite Microsoft’s prior statements to European antitrust authorities.

That case is still pending with an internal administrative law judge, with a hearing set for August. Those proceedings don’t have the power to entirely halt the deal, as a source close to the merger proceedings told Ars Technica in January. By filing for a preliminary injunction, the FTC now aims to prevent the deal from going through before a July 18 deadline, potentially voiding the deal and sending the companies back to the bargaining table.