Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard fights off shareholder lawsuit following alleged sexual harassment

US judges have dismissed a lawsuit from Activision Blizzard shareholders alleging the Call of Duty maker had lied to them by minimising the impact of allegedly widespread sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees.

A district judge found earlier this week that investors failed to give specific statements that the firm had made and stated that there wasn’t a clear duty to disclose.

Shareholders had argued that Blizzard Entertainment in particular had failed to disclose “endemic” misconduct, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

However, the judge found that under US securities laws, a firm is only required to describe pending legal proceedings from governmental authorities, which Activision Blizzard recently did.

The game maker disclosed last week that it was cooperating with a Department of Justice lawsuit into suspected insider trading that might’ve been facilitated by CEO Bobby Kotick just days before the video game publisher was acquired by Microsoft, according to a filing to the SEC.

Microsoft snapped up the firm for a record $68.7bn (£50.6bn) back in January, making it the biggest takeover for the gaming industry.

Assuming the deal is a success, it will also make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, just behind Tencent and Sony.

Showing how the worlds of tech really do collide, Meta Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is reportedly facing scrutiny over her involvement with Activision.

Sandberg reportedly pushed UK tabloids to shelve articles about her then-boyfriend Bobby Kotich, chief exec of Activision.