Microsoft is facing yet another round of opposition to its planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This time it is not Sony or the FTC, but a group of 10 Call of Duty fans who have filed a lawsuit (open in new tab) against the acquisition (via Reuters (open in new tab)).

The lawsuit echoes some of the points made by the FTC (open in new tab) in its statement of opposition to the acquisition filed earlier this month: namely, that "an independent, mass-marketable, highly anticipated by gamers, top quality, graphics-driven video game There are only a few game publishers in the world" and that further consolidation of such companies would be detrimental to gamers, employees, and the business community as a whole.

The lawsuit also alleges that Microsoft intentionally lied when it promised European regulators, prior to its 2021 acquisition of Bethesda Softworks, that it had "no incentive to discontinue or restrict the availability of [Bethesda parent company] ZeniMax games on rival consoles." The company also repeated its claim in the FTC's lawsuit that it had Microsoft later announced that its upcoming Bethesda games "Starfield" (opens in new tab) and "Redfall" (opens in new tab) would both be console-exclusive titles at launch. However, shortly after the FTC filed suit to block the merger, the Commission told Seeking Alpha (opens in new tab) that Microsoft had made no such promises.

Still, it is a valid concern, and one that has been expressed not only by the FTC, but also by the European Commission (open in new tab), the UK Competition and Markets Authority (open in new tab), and of course Sony (open in new tab).

"Owning the Activision Blizzards game catalog would give Microsoft's gaming platform a significant competitive advantage and make an important difference in the industry. The proposed acquisition would give Microsoft an unparalleled position in the gaming industry, owning the most must-have games and iconic franchises." Microsoft would have the ability to block important entries into the console gaming rivalry by making some or all of Activision Blizzard's important game catalog, including Call of Duty, exclusive or partially exclusive to Microsoft's platforms."

"Currently, Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation systems are in fierce competition with each other. Withholding Activision Blizzard's titles from appearing on PlayStation would harm competition between Xbox and PlayStation."

The lawsuit also states.

The lawsuit asks the court to declare the proposed acquisition a violation of the Clayton Antitrust Act and to permanently block it. If I were a betting man, I'd say that's not likely to happen; when the FTC filed suit to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it did not simultaneously file for an injunction against it. According to Axios, the lawsuit may be primarily an indication that it is a challenge of record to a transaction that the FTC expects to ultimately close anyway.

And because we know someone is going to ask: Six of the ten plaintiffs in the lawsuit, all but one of whom also own a Nintendoswitch, list the PlayStation as their only gaming console.