On Thursday, Meta filed a motion to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s revised lawsuit against its Within VR deal. The FTC filed the case in June, arguing that Meta’s purchase of Within both caused horizontal harm in a highly-concentrated VR fitness app market, and that the purchase caused harm to “perceived potential competition.” Last week, the FTC withdrew its horizontal harm claim.

“After the FTC withdrew one of its arguments last week, Meta’s motion highlights that this case is short on facts and rests on a losing legal theory,” said Chamber of Progress CEO Adam Kovacevich. “This was never about the acquisition of a small VR fitness app; it’s about appeasing big tech’s critics by suing Meta.”

Meta’s purchase of Within follows on the heels of other, larger gaming studio acquisitions that regulators have let through. Over the past year, PlayStation has acquired five gaming studios while Microsoft has purchased Activision-Blizzard, an acquisition five-times as large as that of Within.

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Chamber of Progress (progresschamber.org) is a center-left tech industry policy coalition promoting technology’s progressive future. We work to ensure that all Americans benefit from technological leaps, and that the tech industry operates responsibly and fairly.

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