united-states antitrust-law
Can Microsoft be sued for antitrust practices if it made all the games made by the companies they acquired exclusive?
<p>Can Microsoft be sued for antitrust practices if it made all the games made by the companies they acquired exclusive? Microsoft acquired so many game publishers that it makes Sony look like it might go bankrupt if it doesn't acquire a major publisher in response. I am wondering if Microsoft can be sued for antitrust monopoly practices if it decides to make major games like Call of Duty exclusive to the Microsoft console.</p>

<p>Can Microsoft be sued: Yes.</p>
<p>Will a suit proceed: Only if it is brought by a government (usually federal). Individuals generally don't have standing to bring anti-trust suits.</p>
<p>Will a suit be successful: Unlikely, in my opinion (though I have a much lower perception of Microsoft's &quot;publisher share&quot;). Under US law, to be in violation of anti-trust measures, one must:
A) Possess &quot;sufficient power in the relevant market&quot; and
B) Must use it's power in a prohibited way</p>
<p>As for the first requirement, it does not appear to even be approaching that critical mass, to me. Even if Sony were to be adversely impacted, this doesn't matter (and Sony is nowhere near going bankrupt; they could write off their entire Playstation division and do just fine. They have their fingers in many business pies, to the point that one of their most profitable divisions sells <em>life insurance</em>).</p>
<p>Instead, the limit is not &quot;Sony&quot; but rather &quot;video games&quot;; if constrained to the console market there are currently three major players (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo), with a forth competitor recently entering the fray in Valve.
A wider market would also include computers and cellphones. There are thousands game makers and studios, many of whom are self-publishing their games.</p>
<p>Furthermore, even if Microsoft is determined to be a monopoly in the video game market, obtaining that status is not illegal. One must make one of a number of prohibited actions while benefiting from monopoly status.</p>
<p>One the surface, the most likely issue is &quot;tying&quot; which Microsoft has been actually sued over in the past. However, since video games and consoles are not sold together, this is not applicable on first glance. (Though the resource I looked at only mentioned selling the items together, with no mention of them needing each other to run properly).</p>
