The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is now the only global regulator blocking Microsoft’s $69bn (£52bn) takeover of Activision after the US antitrust watchdog lost a key court appeal.

A US appeals court denied the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block the Microsoft deal on Friday, clearing a path for the companies to close the largest gaming deal in history.

The ruling is a blow to the FTC and its chairman Lina Khan, who sought to block the merger over concerns that Microsoft would withhold Activision’s most popular games, including the Call of Duty franchise from rival consoles or services.

Microsoft won a legal appeal of the decision last week and the FTC’s failure to succeed in its own challenge now means the watchdog has few options to block it before next week’s July 18 deadline to complete the deal.

The CMA was the first global regulator to object to the Activision takeover and its blocking order is now the only remaining legal impediment.

The European Commission cleared the Microsoft deal in May after the tech giant agreed to offer Activision’s games on rival cloud streaming services for at least 10 years.