Microsoft settles antitrust lawsuit contesting Activision Blizzard acquisition

Microsoft has settled a lawsuit against last year’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard brought forth by Call of Duty players.

In late 2022, the 10 players (who lived in California, New Mexico, and New Jersey) filed a private consumer lawsuit against the Xbox maker. At the time, they wanted to stop Microsoft from having “far-outsized market power.”

Per the Hollywood Reporter, both parties told the California court they wanted to dismiss the lawsuit “with prejudice,” and it cannot be refiled later. A lawyer for the case said each group “shall bear their own costs and fees.”

Notably, the terms of the settlement were not revealed.

During the trial, the players reportedly argued that Microsoft hurt competition with its acquisition, and cited recent events like its numerous layoffs this year, and the raised price for Xbox Game Pass.

Following the merger, Game Pass’ subscriber base went up from 25 million to over 34 million, its highest in two years. Several Activision games have come to the service in recent months, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will launch day one on Game Pass.

Joseph Saveri, a lawyer for the players, said in a filing that Microsoft “continued to increase its market power” following the acquisition. For Game Pass specifically, he noted the service “continues to trend toward a monopoly.”

In response, Microsoft disputed the characterization, and said Game Pass’ subscriber growth was a “meaningless apples-to-oranges comparison.”

A rundown of Microsoft’s quest to buy Activision Blizzard

The road to acquiring Activision Blizzard was a long one for Microsoft, particularly in the legal sense.

At first, various regulatory boards like the FTC and the UK’s CMA put their foot down against it. They had concerns about a potential monopoly, and what it may mean for video games’ future with the cloud.

The FTC (and Sony) were especially determined for the merger to fall out. After a trial in the US and cloud-related concessions, regulators and courts eventually sided in Microsoft’s favor, while also acknowledging its recent controversial moves.

As of this past weekend, it has been over a full year since the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger.

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