The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has asked an appeals court to pause Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard Inc. while its challenge to the gaming deal is pending, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, without citing a source.

A federal judge had ruled for Microsoft Tuesday, saying that the agency had failed to show that the deal would be illegal under antitrust law. The FTC appealed that loss late Wednesday, and Microsoft has said it would fight that appeal.