A judge has ruled against the Federal Trade Commission's efforts to halt Microsoft's acquisition of video game company Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft has been trying to buy Activision for nearly $69 billion since it announced the deal last year, but the FTC prevented the purchase from happening sooner. Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco issued her decision in favor of the Xbox developer’s merger with the gaming company on Tuesday, CNBC reported.

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“This court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted — perhaps even terminated — pending resolution of the FTC administrative action,” Corley wrote.

The judge heard both sides of the case for five days before deciding to strike down the FTC’s emergency injunction. The FTC filed a lawsuit in December 2022 voicing its concerns about Microsoft’s potential monopoly in the gaming world if the deal went through.

“For the reasons explained, the court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition,” the ruling read. “To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.”

The decision comes exactly a week ahead of the July 18 purchasing deadline that Microsoft and Activision have been trying to meet.

Microsoft proposed the deal in January 2022 to add more titles to its library, including mobile games, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“We’re grateful to the court in San Francisco for this quick and thorough decision and hope other jurisdictions will continue working towards a timely resolution,” Microsoft President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith said in a statement. “As we’ve demonstrated consistently throughout this process, we are committed to working creatively and collaboratively to address regulatory concerns.”

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Activision, which owns the Call of Duty games, also praised the decision.

“Our merger will benefit consumers and workers,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said in a statement. “It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.”