In 1998, the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, which led to years of legal battles. In the early 90s, the FTC investigated the company over its alleged monopoly in the PC operating system market. įor the first time in more than 20 years, Microsoft is facing such severe regulatory pressure. This also means Microsoft may have to make certain concessions to settle with the FTC and receive approval from other watchdogs in the UK and European Union. It is hard to say how long the legal fight might take, but this move definitely puts the $68.7 billion deal at risk. Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.ĭirector of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition Although that might mean more time for the studio to work on the Elder Scrolls 6 engine.Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals. I don’t think anyone was under the illusion that we’d be getting Elder Scrolls before then, but this is the cold, hard evidence that with a trademark battle going on there really is no chance that the sequel to Skyrim will be coming out any time soon. Look into the trial schedule and it shows that deadlines have been scheduled for the major points in the case, the latest being in August 2020. Ok, that might sound about as exciting as a minor plot point in Law and Order, but I spoke to our legal team and turns out it’s when you dig into the trial dates via the United States Trademark and Patent Office that things get interesting. the owners of Bethesda Game Studios) over their attempt to trademark the term ‘Redfall’.

Youtuber Skullzi TV has spotted that is opposing the Redfall trademark application against ZeniMax Media (i.e. Elder Scrolls 6 is a very, very long way away, and if this battle is anything to go by, then the ride to get there certainly isn’t going to be an easy one.

Redfall zenimax lawsuit