DOJ Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Activision for Limiting Competition, Supressing Wages in E-Sports Leagues
April 03 2023 - 3:36PM
Dow Jones News
By Denny Jacob
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday said it filed an antitrust
lawsuit against Activision Blizzard Inc. for imposing rules that
limited competition for players in two of its videogame franchises'
professional e-sports league and suppressed wages for players in
those leagues.
The DOJ said its complaint alleges that in two of the e-sports
leagues owned by the videogame company, Activision and the
independently-owned teams in each league implemented a so-called
Competitive Balance Tax. The tax was structured to penalize teams
in the "Overwatch" and "Call of Duty" leagues if a team's player
compensation exceeded a threshold set by Activision, the complaint
alleges.
The DOJ's antitrust division said it filed a proposed consent
decree that, if approved, would prohibit Activision from imposing
any rule that would limit player compensation in any of its
professional e-sports leagues or that would tax, fine or otherwise
penalize any team for exceeding a certain amount of compensation
for its players, among other measures.
"Professional esports players-like all workers-deserve the
benefits of competition for their services. Activision's conduct
prevented that from happening," said Assistant Attorney General
Jonathan Kanter of the DOJ's antitrust division.
"We have always believed, and still believe, that the
Competitive Balance Tax was lawful, and it did not have an adverse
impact on player salaries. The tax was never levied, and the
leagues voluntarily dropped it from our rules in 2021," Activision
said in a statement.
The complaint was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia.
Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 03, 2023 15:21 ET (19:21 GMT)
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