A US law firm is looking to file a class action lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, accusing the company of having “made materially false and/or misleading statements” concerning the company’s partnership with Destiny developer Bungie, which came to an end earlier this year. If it progresses, the suit would be filed to the United States District Court in California on behalf of the company’s recent shareholders.
The lawsuit comes from Kuznicki Law PLLC, which says in its loss submission form (via gamesindustry.biz) that people who purchased shares in the company between August 2, 2018 and January 10, 2019 were misled regarding Activision Blizzard’s decision to part ways with the developer. Kuznicki claims that Activision Blizzard failed to disclose that the termination of the partnership was imminent, and that the end of the partnership would have “a significant negative impact on Activision Blizzard’s revenues.”
As a result, they say, “Activision Blizzard’s public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.” Shareholders who want to be represented by the firm have until March 19 to submit their information.
Activision Blizzard announced their split from Bungie in January, revealing in an earnings call that the decision stemmed from Destiny 2’s failure to meet revenue expectations. The split is reported to have cost Bungie $164 million, but despite that windfall, Activision’s stock dropped by a significant margin in the wake of the announcement.
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The class action lawsuit is still in its earliest stages, as Kuznicki is still gathering information. It’s likely that it’s still a largely speculative effort at this point, but it’s possible that more comes of it in the coming months.