Microsoft’s planned $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. hit another hurdle Tuesday, when a group of gamers challenged the deal in court.
The federal antitrust lawsuit, filed in San Francisco, comes less than two weeks after the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger between one of the world’s top video game publishers and the manufacturer of the Xbox console. The new suit names Microsoft, but not Activision, as a defendant.
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Like the FTC, the gamers are seeking a court order prohibiting the companies from consummating the transaction. Their complaint cites concerns that the merger would give Microsoft enough clout over multiple levels of the gaming industry “to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition.”
“Microsoft already controls one of the industry’s most popular and largest video game ecosystems,” the suit says. “The proposed acquisition would give Microsoft an unrivaled position in the gaming industry, leaving it with the greatest number of must-have games and iconic franchises.”
