The 'Gamers Lawsuit' that was filed against Microsoft by a group of, well, gamers last year has now been dismissed by a Judge due to the complaint "not plausibly" alleging anticompetitive effects.
As shared by intellectual property analyst and Twitter user Florian Mueller, on March 20, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ordered a motion to dismiss the "so-called gamers' lawsuit" due to the complaint made by the plaintiff "not plausibly" alleging the Activision Blizzard merger "creates a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effects in any relevant market."
The 'Gamers' Lawsuit', which was first brought to court in December 2022, was filed by a group of 10 gamers from California, New Mexico, and New Jersey who all sought to stop Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard due to concerns about it reducing competition in the games industry.
"Why would Microsoft make Call of Duty exclusive to its platforms, thus resulting in fewer games sold?", Judge Corley reportedly asked during the proceedings (according to Mueller), "what is it about the console market or PC games market and Microsoft's position in those markets that makes it plausible there is a reasonable probability Microsoft would take such steps."
Judge Corley: "Why would Microsoft make Call of Duty exclusive to its platforms thus resulting in fewer games sold? What is it about the console market or PC games market and Microsoft’s position in those markets that makes it plausible ... Microsoft would take such steps."March 21, 2023
In other Activision Blizzard acquisition news, Microsoft signed its fourth 10-year deal in four weeks last week, all to push the acquisition through. The latest deal sees cloud gaming company Ubitus (who is responsible for several Nintendo Switch ports) partner with Xbox which, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, will allow the company to "stream Xbox PC Games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes."
Right now, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal is still uncertain - find out which 10 Activision Blizzard franchises we'd love to see reborn at Xbox if it does go through though.
