Right, where to begin with this one?!
If you cast your mind all the way back to December of 2022, you may remember a story here at Pure Xbox about a group of random "gamers" who were suing Microsoft over the company's attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard.
Basically, the lawsuit claimed that the acquisition would be detrimental to the gaming industry in many ways, highlighting how competition would be affected and Microsoft may have "far-outsized market power" as a result of it.
Microsoft actually ended up getting pretty irritated about this lawsuit as time went on, criticising (amongst other things) how these gamers waited 11 months after the deal's announcement to file the suit, and then "wasted several additional months filing an implausible complaint."
Well, all of that's in the past now, because we finally have a resolution 22 months later! As reported by the Associated Press, Microsoft has reached a settlement with these "gamers", but the terms have not been publicly disclosed.
"Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The two parties agreed to the dismissal of the lawsuit and will cover their own costs and fees..."
An official statement from Microsoft this week also confirmed that “the parties have resolved the litigation".
It's a bit confusing that we've got the words "settlement" and "dismissal" in here, but we're guessing that the two parties came to some kind of out-of-court agreement. In any case, Team Xbox will surely be relieved there's finally a resolution, as this is one more Activision Blizzard roadblock that's finally been pushed out of the way. But of course, it didn't stop the acquisition from going through, as Microsoft finally acquired the company in October of last year.
Any thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.
[source apnews.com]
Comments 21
Were not they Sony angry fans? Maybe Sony's executives? Why did they not sue Sony when they released exclusive content and early access for the Playstation versions of Call of Duty?
Most Call of Duty fans are casual players that barely spend time reading about these things, let alone suing Microsoft. Quite appropriate to write "these 'gamers'."
What a terrible decision to settle, if that's what actually happened. You just encouraged more completely stupid and frivolous lawsuits to head your way for a payday. Judge also should've thrown this out immediately...
If the "gamers" got anything it probably wasn't much if legal fees weren't even covered. Maybe they each got the Amazon fire stick bundle.
One of them should've challenged Phil Spencer to 1v1 them on Rust.
Oh, look the deal cost even more money. checks notes hopefully this is the last "Xbox-Activision court case" news, feels like we should have a party.
I like the (probably fictional) idea the "gamers" saw Microsoft's "exclusives policy" and decided "you're actually doing more than we were trying to force you to do" and dropped the case.
Maybe I should sue Sony for Concord. That game was a crime against wallets.
Xbox should’ve purchased Ubisoft and blizzard because it would’ve been easier and not big as an issue then slowly try to secure Activision later … that catalog would’ve been insane
@Darylb88 not just wallets but eyeballs, brain cells, gamers, humanity as a whole.
Concord was a crime against a lot of things.
I see people are spreading the usual fud in here, in search of something to hate as usual:
'There are ten plaintiffs in all, many of which state they are PlayStation, PC and/or Nintendo Switch owners, with a few mentioning they currently play on Xbox as well.'
That's a quote from this very site.
People trying to make a quick buck, and it looks like they have succeeded too....
@Kienda Lets band togther and sue em for it!
@TheSimulator Ubisoft is a waste of money purchase and blizzard/Activision are a package deal because they haven't been seperate entities for years they're the same company.
@TheSimulator Microsoft just playing the waiting game because they know in 8-12 months Ubisoft will be 60-80% off its original price.
If these are just random gamers ...and they have got a payment then wtf....how? If that's the case give the rest of us a payment ..cause they are no more effected than the rest of us....only difference being is these clearly have nothing going on in Thier life..and are most likely hardcore ps fanboys
I hope these "gamers" didn't make a dime.
I hope the "settlement" was basically, "We [Microsoft] will bury you in millions of dollars in litigation unless you drop it."
@GamingFan4Lyf That and they could easily afford to just drag out the lawsuit and bankrupt them with legal fees.
for shame. raiding the pockets
@Trmn8r I don't even think the settlement was Microsoft giving much of anything. It was just an opportunity to avoid the cost of going to court. Still because it's a settlement nothing can be disclosed publicly so it probably looks weaker than it actually is in reality.
That said this was always the only outcome. I'm not a lawyer so feel free to correct but as far as I know at least in the states anyone can sue for anything. And the only way to dismiss is during the court process after the suit has been filed. It's preferable to all parties to get stuff resolved before then through a settlement or arbitration or whatever because no matter what going to court will cost some time and money and not a small amount. The gamers lawsuit wasn't nearly as well funded as the FTC case and that itself was a flismly joke, so its not like there was any chance of Microsoft losing. Still it would have cost them some money to fight and time and it wasn't immediately thrown out in the very early stages like they hoped. Some states do have anti-SLAPP laws against baseless lawsuits clearly brought just as scare tactics but like... those are only really for individuals and their whole idea is to protect people against frivolous lawsuits just designed to silence them through how expensive a lawsuit is. Doesn't really apply to Microsoft.
And I'm honestly fine with this. I'd say yeah gather enough people and pool together enough money to get a lawyer and file a suit against a company, then go ahead and let things play out. The implication here is that it's easy or cheap to file a lawsuit. It's not and for their trouble these guys did not even get those costs reimbursed. If someone wants to try and copy them and hope for this outcome (wherein we don't even know if they got enough money to cover expenses), they can go ahead. That's a right of our legal system and it comes with consequences.
@StylesT it just says a "settlement" that isn't necessarily money. Regardless they didn't get any of the legal fees incurred covered. So even if they did get money, it's entirely possible they didn't break even.
I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but I do wonder if this was an "astroturf" group funded by a competitor to try and throw another wrench in the works, and have just settled as it became pointless.
I agree with these people though, and in a few years time we'll see what a bad deal this was for consumers and the industry as a whole.
@WildConcept6 judges in the United States have the ability to throw out frivolous lawsuits quickly if they see the claims are baseless and ridiculous. This is one of those cases that should've happened. And yes, while we will not know what the settlement entailed, as you pointed out, it does give that appearance of a payday for others. You know who rarely settles? Nintendo. They understand the importance of protecting their IP and setting a precedent that if you come at them with baseless claims, it'll hurt you a lot. It is worth the cost to the company IMO to protect your brand. Settlements can come across as admissions of guilt publicly, whether true or not, and like I said, invite more absurd claims. I still think the judge failed the most in this case though by not tossing it immediately, as it's so obviously silly to anyone with an ounce of reasoning skills.
The irony is if these Sony fans won their lawsuit, they would have saved Xbox.
Everyone got what they wanted from MS acquiring ABK except for Xbox console gamers. Even Playstation gamers will see every Xbox game, eventually including Halo, thanks to it. Meanwhile Xbox hardware will become an extension of their PC store within a generation.
I think the gamers lawsuit got everything they wanted and a whole lot more.
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