Microsoft has agreed to settle a high-profile class action lawsuit initiated by Activision Blizzard shareholders for $250 million. The case had grown increasingly messy in recent years, reaching a point where it threatened to renew scrutiny of the misconduct allegations that had shadowed Activision Blizzard before its sale to Microsoft.
The lawsuit was brought in 2022 by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden (AP7), which argued that Activision Blizzard acted too quickly in selling itself and deprived shareholders of a chance to secure a higher price than Microsoft’s $95-per-share offer. The plaintiffs accused former CEO Bobby Kotick of rushing the sale in a bid to protect his own position as the company faced growing scrutiny over alleged workplace misconduct. The case eventually became notable both for challenging the blockbuster merger and for bringing Activision Blizzard’s workplace conduct controversies back into focus.
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Microsoft’s New Settlement Would Add 30 Cents Per Share for Eligible Activision Blizzard Investors
After four years’ worth of legal drama, the dispute now appears to be ending, according to a preliminary settlement notice filed in Delaware’s Court of Chancery and made public in late May 2026. Under the proposal, Microsoft would pay $250 million, and no party would admit to wrongdoing of any sort, as is typical of such agreements. The settlement sum would translate to approximately 30 cents per share for former shareholders. Anyone who owned the developer-publisher’s stock between Microsoft’s announcement of the Activision Blizzard acquisition in January 2022 and the deal’s completion in October 2023 would be eligible to receive the settlement payout if the presiding judge approves the settlement in its current form.
In an early 2026 court filing, Microsoft said that it had entered into the stipulation to avoid the burden, cost, and distraction of further litigation, which is all language that is standard for this kind of settlement. The company also denied claims that Activision had engaged in systemic or widespread workplace misconduct, or that its board, including Kotick, acted improperly in addressing such issues. That denial echoes arguments Kotick and his legal team have made in the years since AP7 first launched its litigation. In early 2026, Kotick even counter-sued AP7 over “abuse of process,” making the legal ordeal even messier. All those disputes are now expected to be resolved shortly.
In July 2021, the state of California launched a workplace-discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. AP7 originally tied part of its lawsuit to allegations outlined in the California Civil Rights Department’s complaint. In the proposed settlement, however, the pension fund acknowledges that its earlier claims were based in part on allegations that were later described in court-approved language as never having been substantiated by a court or an independent investigation. The California case was finalized in December 2023, with Activision Blizzard settling for $54 million without admitting any wrongdoing.
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Microsoft originally announced its Activision Blizzard acquisition as a $68.7 billion deal, making it the largest acquisition not only in gaming, but also in the broader technology sector. After Activision Blizzard officially joined Microsoft in October 2023, the company characterized the transaction as having a total purchase price of $75.4 billion. Based on that larger accounting figure, the $250 million settlement represents a 0.33% increase in the deal’s overall cost.
