In the United States, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is being considered not only in federal court, which begins today, but also in civil court. A consumer group has been trying for a long time to block Xbox’s association with the Call of Duty publisher..
The players’ trial failed for the first time, with Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley not getting enough hard evidence. Now lawyers for Sony’s “fans” are back, arguing that the nearly $69 billion acquisition would reduce competition and violate U.S. antitrust laws.
According to the lawyers of the consumer group, in dismissing the previous lawsuit, the court did not take into account evidence that Microsoft’s goal is to oust its main rival, the Sony PlayStation.. This proof is an email sent by the head of Xbox Game Studios to the chief financial officer at Microsoft. The email is censored in the available documents, so we don’t know exactly what Matt Booty wrote to Tim Stewart.
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The court may not have considered it important due to the fact that it was shipped in 2019, while the takeover process for Activision Blizzard was announced in January 2022. To complete the picture, it was announced in September 2020 that Microsoft would buy ZeniMax Media along with Bethesda. and other studios for $7.5 billion. The acquisition was completed in March 2021.
Microsoft lawyers say the email is an internal exchange of information and should remain censored and out of court proceedings.. In other words, it’s real, but we still don’t know exactly what’s in it. But there has to be something that the consumer group sees as strong evidence that Microsoft’s goal is to push Sony out of the market with the PlayStation.
It is doubtful whether the court will consider this intent as evidence to block the acquisition. After all, the goal of every company is to take the biggest piece of the pie and dominate their industry. That’s also Microsoft’s goal with Xbox, even if they all look like they want to bring people together and bring games to as many devices as possible.
Let’s remember what the consumer group originally said:
“Microsoft already controls one of the most popular and expansive gaming ecosystems. The proposed acquisition will give Microsoft an unrivaled position in the gaming industry and the largest number of key games and iconic brands.” it’s in the original document. It lists all of Microsoft’s acquisitions and mergers from 2014 to its acquisition of Zenimax Media (Bethesda) in 2020.
Source :Indian TV
