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Microsoft has settled a private antitrust lawsuit brought by recreational video-game players who tried to block or restrict its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The reported settlement ended the case without reversing the acquisition, ordering a divestiture, awarding publicly disclosed damages, or establishing that Microsoft violated antitrust law.
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Public reporting on October 15, 2024 said Microsoft and the plaintiffs had filed a motion or stipulation to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The parties said they had resolved the litigation, and each side agreed to pay its own legal fees and costs. The settlement’s substantive terms were not disclosed.
Microsoft did not pay $68.7 billion to settle the case
The lawsuit’s settlement should not be confused with the value of Microsoft’s acquisition. Microsoft announced the Activision Blizzard deal on January 18, 2022, as an all-cash transaction worth approximately $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard’s net cash, or $95 per share. Microsoft completed the acquisition on October 13, 2023—almost a year before the private gamers’ case was reported as settled.
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The figure is sometimes misstated as “$9 billion” in headlines or summaries. The verified announced transaction value was $68.7 billion, not $9 billion. That amount describes the acquisition, not a settlement payment.
What the gamers’ lawsuit challenged
The case, Demartini et al. v. Microsoft Corporation, Case No. 3:22-cv-08991-JSC, was filed in December 2022 by individual recreational gamers, including players interested in Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard franchises.
The plaintiffs argued that combining Microsoft’s Xbox, Game Pass, and cloud-gaming businesses with Activision Blizzard’s major console, PC, and mobile franchises could reduce competition and consumer choice. The properties identified in Microsoft’s acquisition announcement included Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush.
The private action sought to prevent or limit the proposed merger under U.S. antitrust law. In an April 8, 2024 order, the district court described the plaintiffs as recreational video-game players who had sued to enjoin the merger. That order also confirmed that the transaction had already closed on October 13, 2023.
What “dismissed with prejudice” means here
A dismissal with prejudice generally means that the same plaintiffs cannot ordinarily bring the same claims again after the dismissal becomes effective. It is different from a ruling after trial that Microsoft violated antitrust law.
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The available reporting supports describing this as a settlement followed by dismissal—not as a damages judgment, a government antitrust victory, or a divestiture. The public record does not establish that Microsoft:
- paid the gamers a particular amount;
- provided free or discounted game access;
- made a new commitment to keep Activision Blizzard games on a particular platform;
- admitted liability; or
- agreed to sell part of Activision Blizzard.
Those details were not publicly disclosed in the reporting available for the settlement. Each side’s agreement to bear its own legal fees and costs was reported, but that does not reveal whether other confidential consideration changed hands.
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| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 18, 2022 | Microsoft announced an all-cash plan to acquire Activision Blizzard for $95 per share, with an announced transaction value of approximately $68.7 billion inclusive of net cash. |
| December 8, 2022 | The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint challenging the proposed merger. |
| December 2022 | Recreational gamers filed the separate federal lawsuit later captioned Demartini et al. v. Microsoft Corporation. |
| July 10, 2023 | The Northern District of California denied the FTC’s request for a preliminary injunction, finding that the FTC had not raised serious questions showing the merger was likely to substantially lessen competition in the relevant markets. |
| October 13, 2023 | Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. |
| April 8, 2024 | The district court denied a later gamer motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. The court cited a lack of jurisdiction in light of the pending appeal involving the earlier preliminary-injunction ruling. |
| October 14–15, 2024 | Microsoft and the gamer plaintiffs filed a dismissal motion or stipulation. Reporting said the case would be dismissed with prejudice, with undisclosed settlement terms and each side paying its own fees. |
| May 7, 2025 | The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of the FTC’s preliminary-injunction request. |
| May 22, 2025 | The FTC dismissed its administrative complaint, closing the separate agency proceeding. |
The gamers’ case was separate from the FTC case
There were two important U.S. proceedings, and they should not be conflated.
The private gamers’ lawsuit
This was a civil action brought by individual players. Its reported October 2024 settlement ended the plaintiffs’ challenge without a publicly reported merits judgment or disclosure of the settlement’s substantive terms.
The FTC’s administrative proceeding
The FTC separately alleged that Microsoft could use the acquisition to suppress competitors to Xbox consoles, Game Pass, and cloud gaming. The agency’s case was not settled by the gamers’ agreement. The Ninth Circuit later affirmed the denial of the FTC’s request for preliminary relief, and the FTC dismissed its administrative complaint on May 22, 2025.
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That sequence matters: the private case ending in 2024 did not itself close the FTC’s proceeding, and the FTC’s later dismissal did not turn the private settlement into a government judgment.
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Why regulators focused on cloud gaming
The acquisition combined Microsoft’s distribution and subscription businesses with Activision Blizzard’s valuable game catalog. Regulators therefore examined not only traditional console competition, but also Game Pass, cloud gaming, and access to Activision Blizzard content.
The Ninth Circuit’s account of the regulatory record described Microsoft’s commitments involving Nintendo and cloud-gaming providers, as well as commitments concerning Call of Duty on PlayStation. The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority initially concluded that the deal could harm competition in cloud gaming. The CMA approved the transaction on October 13, 2023 after Microsoft proposed concessions involving cloud-streaming rights.
Under the U.K. arrangement, Ubisoft received cloud-streaming rights outside the European Economic Area for existing Activision Blizzard games and future releases for a 15-year period. The Ninth Circuit noted that Ubisoft—not Microsoft or Activision Blizzard—would control which cloud services could receive the relevant Activision Blizzard games in the United States under that arrangement. Microsoft also could not receive an exclusive or materially preferential cloud license under the commitments described by the court.
These regulatory commitments are part of the broader history of the acquisition. They are not newly announced terms of the private gamers’ settlement.
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What the settlement means for players
For players, the immediate practical meaning is limited but clear: the private lawsuit no longer presented an active case seeking to block or restrict the completed transaction. It did not undo Microsoft’s ownership of Activision Blizzard, and the public settlement reporting did not announce a new consumer-access policy.
The deal remains strategically significant because it brought major Activision Blizzard franchises under the same corporate umbrella as Xbox, Game Pass, and Microsoft’s cloud-gaming interests. That combination can continue to raise questions about platform availability, subscription access, release timing, licensing, and cloud-streaming rights. The end of this lawsuit does not resolve every future competition question about those businesses.
It is also important not to read the settlement as proof that all economic or competitive concerns disappeared. A private dismissal with undisclosed terms resolves the claims asserted by the named plaintiffs; it does not serve as a universal ruling on every possible effect of the acquisition.
Bottom line
Microsoft settled the recreational gamers’ private antitrust challenge to its Activision Blizzard acquisition, and the case was reported as headed for dismissal with prejudice in October 2024. The settlement terms were not disclosed, the parties reportedly paid their own legal costs, and there was no reported reversal of the acquisition or public damages award.
Microsoft had already completed the approximately $68.7 billion acquisition on October 13, 2023. The gamers’ case was separate from the FTC’s proceeding, which continued until the FTC dismissed its administrative complaint on May 22, 2025 after the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of preliminary relief.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Did Microsoft undo its Activision Blizzard acquisition?
No. Microsoft completed the acquisition on October 13, 2023. The later settlement ended the private gamers’ lawsuit but did not reverse the transaction.
How much did Microsoft pay to settle the gamers’ lawsuit?
No publicly disclosed amount was reported. The parties reportedly agreed that each side would pay its own legal fees and costs, while the settlement’s substantive terms remained confidential.
Was this the same case brought by the FTC?
No. The private gamers’ lawsuit and the FTC’s administrative antitrust proceeding were separate matters. The FTC dismissed its own complaint on May 22, 2025 after the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of its preliminary-injunction request.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsWhat does dismissal with prejudice mean?
It generally means the same plaintiffs cannot ordinarily refile the same claims after the dismissal takes effect. It does not mean that a court found Microsoft liable after a trial.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: The settlement ended a private gamers’ lawsuit; it did not undo Microsoft’s completed Activision Blizzard acquisition. The settlement’s substantive terms were not disclosed, and the $68.7 billion figure refers to the original acquisition—not to a payment resolving the lawsuit.
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