Microsoft Settles Activision Blizzard Acquisition Lawsuit for $250 Million

Microsoft committed to a $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2022. However, a Swedish pension fund, which is an investor in the company, believed that the price was undervalued. This led to a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and its CEO, Bobby Kotick, alleging that the deal was rushed to sidestep the repercussions of a sexual misconduct scandal the company was facing at the time. In response, Microsoft has agreed to a $250 million settlement, a sum that exceeds the entire development budget of 2020’s The Last of Us Part 2, according to reports.

The judge in Delaware’s Court of Chancery allowed the case to proceed last fall, which prompted Kotick to enlist high-profile attorney Alex Spiro and file a countersuit. It was reported earlier this year that Kotick’s countersuit claimed that the gaming publisher Embracer had played a role in instigating the lawsuit from the Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden (AP7) to undermine a competitor.

“Mr. Kotick intends to expose the gross misconduct of the activists who fabricated the false narrative of wrongdoing at Activision, and to reveal the connections between those activists and AP7,” stated part of Kotick’s legal filing. “The Court, and the public, should be aware of the misuse of legal processes through which AP7, regulators, and union activists brought forth false and entirely unsubstantiated claims against Activision and Mr. Kotick.”

With the $250 million settlement, Microsoft aims to resolve all claims and put an end to this latest chapter in the Activision Blizzard acquisition saga. Earlier in 2023, Activision Blizzard had already settled a California lawsuit for $54 million, which accused the Overwatch developer of discriminating against female employees.

The settlement included a statement asserting that “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard [or] that Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic harassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”