Microsoft sued by fans after buying Activision Blizzard

Microsoft owns the Xbox gaming console, while Activision Blizzard is behind major titles like ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘World of Warcraft’.

In early December, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US counterpart to the Competition and Consumer Authority, filed a lawsuit hoping to stop the buy. Now, two weeks later, ten players from New Jersey, New Mexico and California have also joined forces and filed another lawsuit in California federal court.

– I think there is general uncertainty about what it will bring, we have never seen a deal of this size, says games journalist Elisabeth Bergqvist.

“En Aggressive Transfer”

The plaintiffs behind the lawsuit believe that Microsoft “risks creating a monopoly” in which the company can then choose to raise the prices of its games and shut out competitors by tying the titles to its console.

However, this “console war” is something that, according to Bergqvist, has been going on for several years between the three biggest players; Microsoft, Sony (which owns Playstation) and Nintendo. He sees buying as an extension of competition for consumers.

– Microsoft is now not only buying shares in the console sphere, but also in the mobile and streaming sphere. It’s a very aggressive advance.

Microsoft: fostering competition

Microsoft defends the purchase and believes it will benefit the competition. They also offered both Sony and Nintendo access to the “Call and duty” series for the next ten years, where a new title is released every year. Brad Smith, vice president of Microsoft, said in a statement that the company is looking forward to taking its case to the FTC in court.

– Although now they are focusing on “Call of duty”, we must not forget that it is many other great series, which can block on their platforms. For example “World of Warcraft” or the Swedish “Candy Crush”, says Elisabeth Bergqvist.