According to The Hollywood Reporter, Microsoft has settled the antitrust lawsuit filed by a group of gamers against the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. As you might recall, the lawsuit was filed in December 2022, just a couple of weeks after the US Federal Trade Commission announced it was suing to block the deal. Here’s what the gamers alleged in their lawsuit against Microsoft:
In addition to the elimination of a significant rival, the proposed acquisition may give Microsoft far-outsized market power in the video game industry and may enable Microsoft to foreclose rivals to critical inputs and important markets. The current trend toward concentration, the lessening of competition, and the tendency to create a monopoly in the video game industry was already harming competition at an alarming rate before the proposed acquisition was announced. If Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard is allowed to proceed, the video game industry may lose substantial competition, and Microsoft may have far-outsized market power, with the ability to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition.
The proposed acquisition is a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. § 18) in that the effect of the potential consolidation “may be substantially to lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly” in various markets in the video game industry. 14. This private action is authorized under Section 16 of the Clayton Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. § 26), which provides in relevant part that “any person… shall be entitled to sue and have injunctive relief …against threatened loss or damage by a violation of the antitrust laws.” The remedy afforded to private plaintiffs includes injunctive relief prohibiting any potential unlawful acquisition as well as divestiture.
Over a year and a half ago, we reported a motion to dismiss the case from Judge Jacqueline Scott Carley. That, alongside the later ruling from the same judge against the FTC and in favor of Microsoft, seemed to be the end of it. However, it looks like this case wasn’t actually over, so Microsoft decided to settle for an undisclosed amount. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be filed again.
