Since kids in the 1990s clambered across monkey bars while declaring undying fealty to Nintendo and Sega, the world of video games has clung to an idea: console wars. Over the years, the players changed — Nintendo vs. Sega ultimately gave way to Sony vs. Microsoft — but discrete devices like the PlayStation and Xbox remained the centerpiece. Now, though, on the back of a slew of multibillion-dollar purchases, the industry appears to be entering a new phase that transcends physical hardware: the consolidation wars.

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The Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal comes at an interesting time for antitrust regulation. The Federal Trade Commission has been frequently criticized in recent years for not cracking down on competition and privacy abuses. But now, with the recent introduction of more aggressive leadership, the commission is operating under a more ambitious mandate to hold Big Tech responsible.

“The FTC and DOJ are both taking an aggressive posture on mergers,” said Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly advocacy group, and a former policy adviser to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget. “They’re going to look at whether that particular industry will raise prices and if this is leading to the consolidation of the industry at large. I think they’re going to look at data and have a more expansive approach, [asking questions like], ‘Is this an attempt to capture an ecosystem?’ … ‘Does this deny opportunities for video game designers and producers?’ ”