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The lawsuit seeks over $680 million in damages in addition to other fees.
Several Call of Duty team owners and players have filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard seeking damages to the tune of $680 million. The lawsuit alleges Activision Blizzard violated antitrust laws and caused substantial damage to the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit mentions that Activision Blizzard has an unlawful 100% monopoly over Call of Duty Leagues and tournaments. The demand for a jury trial in the District Court of California was filed on June 19, 2025 with the US District Court of California Western Division as first reported by Maia Spoto forBloomberglaw.
In an email to Gamesbeat, an Activision Blizzard representative terms the allegations ‘meritless’.
What does the lawsuit include?
The Plaintiffs allege that Activision Blizzard wielded its unlawful monopoly to enrich itself at “the expense of the professional Call of Duty players and teams that were now under Activision’s thumb”. The lawsuit alleges the following:
(i) Pay Activision a $27.5 million “entry fee” for the privilege of being one of the 12 teams allowed to participate in the Activision CoD League;
(iv) Cede to Activision the exclusive right to contract with broadcasters (e.g., cable television and streaming networks);
(v) Refrain from participating in or supporting any professional Call of Duty leagues or tournaments other than the Activision CoD League;
(vi) Prohibit the team’s players from participating in or supporting any professional Call of Duty leagues or tournaments other than the Activision CoD League;
(vii) Prohibit the team’s players from engaging in any commercialized Call of Duty game play (e.g., streaming informal “friendlies” on YouTube or Twitch) outside the Activision CoD League.The
The lawsuit alleges that Activision Blizzard coerced teams and bought out the competition (MLG) to create a monopoly. This alleged monopoly has transformed the CoD esports scene from a competitive landscape to a monopoly.
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The lawsuit also mentioned that Hector “H3CZ” Rodriguez, who is also one of the plaintiffs, was coerced by the CoD developer to partner with billionaire investors that satisfied Activision’s preferences. The terms of these partnerships created highly unfavorable financial constraints for H3cz’s team.
H3CZ applied as a sole owner for theOpTic brandand the application faced rejection from Activision Blizzard.
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Who filed the lawsuit?
The lawsuit plaintiffs include a team owner as well as a former pro player.
Late last year,Activision Blizzard lifted an unofficial stream ban on Scump, allowing him to stream CDL matches.
There are further allegations against Activision Blizzard of acquiring Major League Gaming in 2016 without the approval of the US Federal Trade Commission.
Activision Blizzard has not yet released a public statement at the time of writing but they have sent a response to Gamesbeat calling these allegations meritless.
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