The "Gamer's Lawsuit" is back after being dismissed by a judge. Now, they claim to have "uncontroverted evidence" that Microsoft wants to take out the competition with the proposed Activision Blizzard purchase.
In an appeal filing that was first reported by Axios, lawyers for the group of random players argue that the court "failed to consider uncontroverted evidence that Microsoft had the intention to put its main competition, the Sony PlayStation, out of the market; and that this merger is a part of that strategy" when it dismissed the previous lawsuit.
The evidence in question consists of an internal email sent by Xbox Studios chief Matt Booty to Xbox Chief Financial Officer Tim Stuart. In the public release of the appeal, the contents of the email referred to as Exhibit K, have been heavily redacted and is labeled as an internal exchange that should not be shown outside of court.
Microsoft has confirmed that the email was sent by Booty in 2019 and said that the company cannot legally share the email or its content. The message sent by Booty to his fellow Xbox executive of Microsoft’s intention to beat PlayStation precedes the company’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard which was only announced in January 2022. The email exchange even predates Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media and its subsidiary studios.
UPDATE: A Microsoft rep shares a significant update to this. While they still can't divulge the contents of the email, they're able to now say that it was sent in 2019
That means that whatever anti-PlayStation sentiment/strategy it may contain preceded MS' offer for Activision https://t.co/HqbmfbjzD0
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) June 20, 2023
The original lawsuit by the group of gamers was initially dismissed by District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley. The decision states that the plaintiffs failed to present sufficient evidence to support their claims.
Judge Jacqueline Corley also handled the FTC’s motion to file a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on the proposed merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. The judge ruled in favor of the temporary restraining order while the hearing for the preliminary injunction is scheduled for this week.
Microsoft and the FTC shared their witness list for the evidentiary hearing last Tuesday. The list of witnesses includes Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan, Bethesda’s Pete Hines, and Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.
There are reports that Microsoft is open to ditching the deal should the Federal Court grant the preliminary injunction. In a recent court filing, Microsoft’s legal counsel admits that the company may consider abandoning the merger if the court rules in favor of the FTC.
In the meantime, Microsoft is appealing a decision by the UK CMA that blocked the merger. The appeal hearing is set to take place on July 24-31.
