You may recall that back in late 2022, a group of 10 "video gamers" decided to file a federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft's attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard, suggesting that the takeover could prove harmful to the industry.
However, in a California court this week, a judge sided with Microsoft's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, stating that "the Complaint does not plausibly allege the merger creates a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effects in any relevant market".
Here's an expert from the conclusion (you can read the full thing courtesy of FOSSPatents):
"The Complaint's allegations are consistent with Plaintiffs' theory that to satisfy their prima facie burden they need only plausibly plead a reasonable proability the merger will eliminate a Microsoft rival. For the reasons explained [in the document], the Court disagrees."
As mentioned in the tweet above, the Plaintiffs still have the ability to try again, so this might not be the last we hear of this case. Nevertheless, Microsoft will surely be breathing a sigh of relief based on this week's verdict.
Of course, Microsoft still has the CMA, European Commission and FTC to think about right now in regards to Activision Blizzard, but it feels like progress is finally starting to be made in the right direction for the company.