The group of random gamers suing Microsoft over the Xbox Activision deal say they have "uncontroverted evidence" that Xbox wants to put PlayStation out of business.
In an appeal filing revealed by Axios, lawyers representing the "Gamer's Lawsuit" say that the court, which previously dismissed the suit, "failed to consider uncontroverted evidence that Microsoft had the intention to put its main competition, the Sony PlayStation, out of the market; and that this merger is a part of that strategy."
That evidence, apparently, consists of an internal email sent by Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty to Xbox's chief financial officer, Tim Stuart. In the public release of the filing the contents of that email, referred to as Exhibit K, have been redacted, as Microsoft characterizes it as an "internal exchange" that should not be shown outside of court.
The Gamer's Lawsuit has been kicking around since December 2022, and reached particularly notable heights as lawyers representing the gamers asked Sony and Nintendo CEOs to come testify. After the suit was dismissed earlier this year, it was amended and refiled with a request that the court make a preliminary injunction against the deal - that request was denied.
This is all separate to the FTC's effort to block the Xbox Activision merger, which is broadly considered quite a bit more serious than the Gamer's Lawsuit. That's on top of the UK's CMA blocking the purchase earlier this year, a move Xbox is set to appeal.
There will surely be no shortage of upcoming Xbox Series X games regardless of whether the deal goes through.
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