Player lawsuit claims to have ‘evidence Microsoft’s Activision bid is designed to eliminate PlayStation’

Plaintiffs in a consumer lawsuit seeking to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal have claimed to have evidence that the Xbox maker had the intention to put PlayStation out of the market.

The private anti-trust action, which was brought by ten video game players in the US, argued that the $69 billion deal could substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly in violation of the Clayton Act.

The lawsuit was initially dismissed in March after District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley found it failed to present sufficient evidence to support their claims.

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

However, the plaintiffs later filed an amended lawsuit containing redacted information from Microsoft, including a strategy memo, and new information provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

As spotted by Axios, a key piece of the plaintiff’s evidence is alleged to be an internal e-mail they say was sent by Microsoft’s head of Xbox game studios, Matt Booty, to Microsoft’s chief financial officer for Xbox, Tim Stuart.

The purported internal Microsoft email is described as “uncontroverted evidence that Microsoft had the intention to put its main competition, the Sony PlayStation, out of the market.”

The passage is said to be from ‘Exhibit K’,  one of the sealed documents that the opposing lawyers have been debating.

In legal documents, Microsoft describes the email as an “internal exchange” that should remain sealed and claims it has no bearing on the court’s decisions.

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A US judge has agreed to temporarily block Microsoft’s Activision acquisition

The FTC recently requested an injunction, which has been granted

The lawsuit is separate from Microsoft’s defence against the US Federal Trade Commission, which is currently seeking a preliminary injunction to block the Xbox maker from acquiring Activision Blizzard.

On Tuesday, Microsoft and the FTC shared their witness lists for an evidentiary hearing set to begin this week, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, Bethesda’s publishing boss Pete Hines, and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick.