Microsoft has settled the antitrust lawsuit from players attempting to block its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $69bn.
The lawsuit was originally filed in California in 2022, after Microsoft announced its intention to acquire the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft maker. The legal action was begun shortly after the FTC filed its own lawsuit, (which Microsoft crucially won back in 2023).
On Monday this week, a deal was struck to dismiss the lawsuit “with prejudice”, so it cannot be refiled. In a court filing, lawyers agreed “each party shall bear their own costs and fees” – beyond this, terms of the agreement have not been disclosed (thanks The Hollywood Reporter).
Players from multiple US states filed the lawsuit, unhappy with the supposed monopoly Microsoft would gain from acquiring Activision Blizzard. This would potentially mean raising prices, reducing consumer choice, and making certain games exclusive – Call of Duty specifically.
At the timing of the lawsuit’s filing, Microsoft responded to say the legal action was based upon “unsupported and implausible claims”. Undeterred, the defendants continued, and even tried to get the lawsuit seen by the US Supreme Court.
Ultimately, Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition deal was signed off on 13th October 2023 – with this week marking its one year anniversary.
A year later, then, and players were seemingly unable to uphold their complaint, leading to the settlement of this case.
Since the acquisition, as Eurogamer reported yesterday, much has occurred, least of all a string of layoffs and studio closures. Blizzard president Mike Ybarra left the company at the start of this year, following the departure of controversial Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick in December 2023.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, the next game in the series, is set to release on PlayStation consoles as well as Xbox and PC, with Microsoft therefore upholding its decision to release the game across multiple platforms.