Gamers sue to stop Microsoft (MSFT) acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI)

The Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues to attract more opposition. This time, 10 gamers (yes, gamers) who look like fans of Activision Blizzard games are suing in the United States District Court Northern District of California on 20 December 2022 to block the merger. 

Here are the 10 Plaintiffs:

Dante DeMartini is a video gamer located in San Francisco, California. Mr. DeMartini plays video games on the PlayStation console and on his personal computer using Windows OS. Mr. DeMartini plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including multiple versions of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Overwatch 2, Starcraft II, Diablo III, and Hearthstone.

Curtis Burns Jr. is a video gamer located in San Francisco, California. Mr. Burns plays video games on the PlayStation console. Mr. Burns plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty.

Nicholas Elden is a video gamer located in Hoboken, New Jersey. Mr. Elden plays video games on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and on mobile devices. Mr. Elden plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty, Diablo, Tony Hawk, and others

Jessie Galvan is a video gamer located in San Francisco, California. Mr. Galvan plays video games on the PlayStation 5 console. Mr. Galvan plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty.

Christopher Joseph Giddings-LaFaye is a video gamer located in San Rafael, California. Mr. Giddings plays video games on his personal computer using Windows OS. Mr. Giddings plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty and Overwatch.

Steve Herrera is a video gamer located in Oakland, California. Mr. Herrera plays video games on PlayStation consoles and the Nintendo Switch. Mr. Herrera plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty titles, Overwatch, Overwatch 2, Crash Bandicoot, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

Hunter Joseph Jakupko is a video gamer located in Los Angeles, California. Hunter Joseph Jakupko plays video games on Xbox and PlayStation consoles as well as his personal computer using Apple OS. Mr. Jakupko plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Warzone 2, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch 2.

Daniel Dermot Alfred Loftus is a video gamer located in San Rafael, California. Mr. Loftus plays video games on PlayStation consoles. Mr. Loftus plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty and Overwatch.

Beowulf Edward Owen is a video gamer located in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Mr. Owen plays video games on his personal computer using the Windows operating system and Xbox consoles. Mr. Owen plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard including Call of Duty and Overwatch.

Ivan Calvo-Perez is a video gamer located in San Francisco, California. Mr. CalvoPerez plays video games on the PlayStation consoles and on his personal computer using Windows OS. Mr. Calvo-Perez plays or has purchased titles from Activision Blizzard, including Call of Duty, Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft 3.

Caveat first, I am not a lawyer. The filing doesn't add much to the lawsuit filed by the FTC to block the acquisition. However, the FTC lawsuit does give Microsoft a way to complete the acquisition if they fulfill certain conditions, whereas this lawsuit looks like they just want it to stop (again, I am not a lawyer).

As I mentioned in my post about the FTC lawsuit, the filings do serve as a convenient primer on the current state of the video game market, and this latest one is no different.

If you are interested, you can read the filing here.

(vested in Microsoft, Activision and Nintendo)

None of the above should be construed as investment advice. Do your own due diligence as I will not be responsible for any loss/risk.

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