As we reported earlier today, a potential shareholder-lead threat to the Activision/Blizzard merger was thrown out of the court on July 1st by Judge William B Chandler III. The judge, however, didn't simply dismiss the suit, he dismissed it with some video-gaming gusto, ending his ruling as follows:



Judge Billy's ruling also included more than one reference to Blizzard (and soon to be ActiBlizzard's) all-conquering elves, dwarves and guild-fest. "In some ways, perhaps, the world of Mergers and Acquisitions is a massively multi-player role playing game as well. Like in World of Warcraft and other games, the participants in the M&A field take on certain roles, interact in their own community, hone specialized skills, and even develop a unique, somewhat curious vernacular.

"One particular quest in the world of M&A is disclosure litigation. In the instance of disclosure litigation presently pending before this Court, the world of M&A meets the World of Warcraft."

And this from a judge who had previously referenced Sir 50 of Pence (Fiddy, that is) in a previous ruling.

^{Source:Wall Street Journal}