Microsoft has agreed to pay $250 million to settle the lawsuit over the Activision Blizzard acquisition in Delaware.
For those who may not be aware, the Delaware lawsuit was filed by the Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden, or AP7. The lawsuit accuses former CEO Bobby Kotick of hastening the acquisition process to distract from the sexual misconduct scandals that were surfacing against the company in late 2021. Now, Microsoft has reached a settlement to resolve this matter.
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Settlement Costs More Than the Budget of a Lot of Games
According to a recent Reuters report (via Kotaku), Microsoft has agreed to pay $250 million to settle a lawsuit filed in Delaware by AP7. The settlement includes a statement from Microsoft, which claims that no court or investigations have found sufficient evidence to support the existence of “systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard.” The company also states that there is no evidence indicating that senior executives were ignored, condoned, or asked to tolerate harassment, retaliation, or discrimination. Here’s the full statement:
“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.”
The former CEO of Activision Blizzard responded earlier this year to the lawsuit filed in Delaware, claiming that it was intended to help Embracer Group strengthen its presence in the California market at Activision’s expense. Bobby Kotick also argued that the lawsuit would hinder the company’s ability to attract new talent and obstruct its expansion plans through mergers and acquisitions. In response, the Embracer Group denied these allegations.
In other news, EA ‘hated’ the idea of a Family Tier of XBOX Game Pass, ultimately leading Microsoft to scrap development. Additionally, a recent clip that surfaced on social media appears to show Activision selling an anti-cheat tool in Call of Duty. What are your thoughts on Microsoft paying $250 million to settle the Activision Blizzard acquisition lawsuit? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
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