Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard may ultimately be stopped, but it's not likely to happen because of this lawsuit.
) states."There is nothing in the record that suggests upon the merger Microsoft can do anything to make these Call of Duty versions currently owned by Plaintiffs somehow stop working, let alone that it would do so. Thus, the day after the merger they can play exactly the same way they played with their friends before the merger."
The judge added that it's not very likely Microsoft will bash out a new, Xbox-exclusive Call of Duty before the full lawsuit can be decided—and that if it announced plans for an Xbox-exclusive Call of Duty in violation of its written commitments not to, a preliminary injunction could be put into place at that point.
The ruling goes on to cite various precedents to demonstrate when a preliminary injunction is and is not appropriate, but the bottom line is that any potential harm the plaintiffs might suffer as a result of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard"will not occur between now and a trial on the merits." And so, as they say in videogames, request denied.
To be clear, this decision is strictly relating to the request for a preliminary injunction against the merger: The lawsuit seeking to stop the deal outright is still pending. But it doesn't strike me as a particularly good sign for its likelihood of success, not that I was ever all that confident that it would be successful in the first place.
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