There have been many challenges against Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. Hurdles range from the European Commission or the rumored FTC lawsuit – which the company is prepared to fight.

However, there may be a twist from the latter where they’ll actually approve the merger instead (via the New York Post). Supposedly, the reasoning behind the approval would be insiders stating their upcoming vote on the matter would end up in a 2-2 tie.

A split among the commission would roadblock a lawsuit against Microsoft, but insiders claim that FTC chair Lina Khan’s authority would be questioned with such a result.

It’s worth noting she is a Democrat and the commission, including herself, is comprised of three Democrats to one Republican. So it would be viewed as one of the dems “defecting”, while she is head.

Apparently this creates an issue with perception, at least according to the report, and Khan would actually instead vote to allow this deal instead of the past reports of the FTC pushing a lawsuit.

If this is the case, which should be noted is currently shared by anonymous sources, then it would be good news for Microsoft in attempting to push forward with their deal. However, the company will still have to contend with other sources pressing against the deal.

The FTC is expected to make their formal recommendation sometime later this month.