US Gamers File Lawsuit To Stop Microsoft-Activision Merger

U.S. gamers filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to stop Microsoft's proposed $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard.

The lawsuit claimed the acquisition would give Microsoft "far-outsized market power in the video game industry" and "the ability to foreclose rivals, limit output, reduce consumer choice, raise prices, and further inhibit competition." This isn't the first lawsuit filed this month against the acquisition. The Federal Trade Commission had moved to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard by filing a lawsuit on Dec. 8.

The FTC and the 10 gamers who filed the lawsuit share similar concerns that Microsoft's acquisition will lead to a monopoly that will force out rivals. The FTC pointed this out in its press release by noting Microsoft's pattern of bad faith when it came to acquiring game studios and IPs with the promise of not making the titles exclusive to Microsoft platforms.

"As the video game industry continues to grow and evolve, it's critical that we protect the market from monopolistic mergers that will harm consumers in the long run," said the plaintiffs' attorney Joseph Saveri.

Microsoft President Brad Smith's defended the deal, saying it would "expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers."

Joseph Alioto, another plaintiffs' attorney, said that "nothing has been as destructive to the free enterprise system as the mega-mergers of the last two to three decades." He added that "they destroy jobs; they raise prices; they cause quality to diminish and innovation to be stifled."

Microsoft is currently facing an investigation by the European Union's European Commission. This brings the total number of regulatory bodies investigating the merger to 16 worldwide.