A lawsuit filed by Call of Duty players against Microsoft has been dismissed.
The private consumer antitrust lawsuit regarding Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc, which owns Call of Duty, was based on the theory that the acquisition could harm market competition.
However, this is the same reason that the lawsuit was dismissed. The federal judge concluded that the lawsuit lacks allegations supporting the plaintiffs’ claim.
"Plaintiffs' general allegation that the merger may cause 'higher prices, less innovation, less creativity, less consumer choice, decreased output, and other potential anticompetitive effects' is insufficient. Why? How?” wrote U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Corley in a public statement.
The plaintiffs were given 20 days to refine the lawsuit, which they plan to use to gather more fact-based information on how Microsoft’s acquisition could permanently harm the industry.
Nevertheless, the outcome of this lawsuit does not affect the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit regarding the Activision acquisition.
“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals. We seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
Microsoft also continues to face scrutiny in the EU and UK, despite the tech corporation insisting that the acquisition will not threaten market competition but will, on the contrary, bolster it.
