A group of disgruntled gamers who had filed an antitrust lawsuit against tech giant Microsoft over its proposed acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard saw their efforts sharply rebuked on Monday, with a California judge dismissing the lawsuit. This hasn’t been a good year for gamers seeking to file suit against some of the giants of gaming, with Nintendo winning a class action lawsuit over Joy-Con drift last month after the suit was dismissed due to language in the End User License Agreement for the Nintendo Switch.Microsoft has faced legal pushback from publishers, gamers, and government regulators nearly since the moment it first announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in January 2022. The acquisition would give Microsoft ownership of some of the largest properties in gaming, including MMO World of Warcraft and Activision’s wildly successful Call of Duty series. Despite pushback from some corners of the gaming industry, other groups have spoken out in favor of the acquisition. A group that previously sued Activision Blizzard for union busting recently urged European Union antitrust authorities to approve Microsoft’s acquisition of the publisher, claiming that it could improve the global gaming labor market overall.In a move echoing those proposed by some international regulators, a group of gamers had filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft late last year on the grounds that its acquisition of Activision Blizzard could harm consumers. After reviewing the gamers’ argument, Judge Jacqueline Corley of the Northern District of California has now dismissed the lawsuit, stating that their complaint “does not plausibly allege the merger creates a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effects in any relevant market” in court documents posted to Twitter by intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller.
Providing more context for the decision, Mueller tweeted an excerpt from the ruling where Judge Corley asks, “Why would Microsoft make Call of Duty exclusive to its platforms thus resulting in fewer games sold?” The dismissal of the lawsuit based on the somewhat shaky standing of the gamers who brought it before the courts is sure to be welcome news to Microsoft. Faced with the potential of being targeted with similar legal action from regulators in the European Union, recent statements from the tech giant indicate that Microsoft is confident it can address antitrust problems issued in a warning from the EU.
While Microsoft still has numerous obstacles to overcome before finally fulfilling its goal of acquiring Activision Blizzard, this ruling stands as the latest in a series of recent legal wins for the tech giant. And although Microsoft may still have to compromise with EU regulators to get final approval for the acquisition, the prospect of a Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard is looking more and more likely every day.