Therefore, the lawsuit, which was filed in December 2022, will not reach the court as the Redmond tech giant has managed to reach an agreement with the players.

Almost two years ago, we heard that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had filed a lawsuit against Microsoft to block Activision’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Blizzard King. That has since been settled, so Redmond now owns the publisher, but in the meantime, the antitrust lawsuit filed by gamers is still ongoing. Let’s look at what they wrote in their lawsuit at the time:

“In addition to eliminating a significant competitor, the proposed acquisition could give Microsoft far greater market power in the video game industry and enable Microsoft to foreclose competitors from critical inputs and important markets. The current trend toward concentration, reduced competition, and monopoly creation 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 will be substantially less competitive and Microsoft will have far greater market power with the ability to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition.

The proposed acquisition violates Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. § 18) because the effect of the potential consolidation “may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly” in various markets in the video game industry. This private action is authorized by section 16 of the Clayton Antitrust Act (15 U.S.C. § 26), which provides, in relevant part, that “any person … shall have a right to sue and to obtain injunctive relief … against threatened loss or damage from any violation of the antitrust laws.” The remedies available to private plaintiffs include injunctive relief prohibiting a possible unlawful acquisition, as well as divestiture,” the document states. So they’ve done their homework, that’s it…

A year and a half ago we heard that they had filed a motion with Judge Jacqueline Scott Carley to halt the proceedings, but so far there has been no development. Now we hear that Microsoft has reached an out-of-court settlement. In other words, they paid something (we don’t know exactly how much) to have the case against them dismissed, and the case was dismissed with prejudice, which means it can’t be refiled.

Congratulations to Microsoft. Maybe sarcastically. Maybe not.

Source: WCCFTech, The Hollywood Reporter