Microsoft vs. FTC – the legal dispute over the Activision-Blizzard takeover was on everyone’s lips for months. While everything seemed to have been resolved in the meantime, the FTC fired again against the company because of the recent wave of layoffs at Microsoft and turned to the court.
The gaming industry is currently being hit by numerous waves of layoffs. One of the biggest took place at Microsoft, where 1,900 employees were recently thrown out, including several who previously worked at Activision Blizzard. After Microsoft took over the publisher and its development studios, they implemented restructuring and streamlined the entire structure – and this is now calling the FTC into action again.
Before the Activision-Blizzard takeover was completed, the market regulator had fought a months-long legal battle with Microsoft in court and tried to prevent the deal for a long time – as we now know: without success. The fact that Microsoft is now putting so many Activision Blizzard employees on the street a short time later doesn’t sit well with the US authorities.
The FTC has now turned to the court again and complained that the dismissals were “contrary to the submissions [von Microsoft] would be before the “court” in the takeover proceedings. Therefore, there should now be consequences – in whatever form.
A day later, Microsoft responded to these allegations in its own statement. According to this, Activision had already planned to cut jobs on a larger scale before it was taken over by Microsoft, i.e. while it was still an independent company. It cannot be assumed that the takeover is the reason for the layoffs that have now been initiated. The FTC’s claims are “factually incomplete and misleading.” The steps taken are intended to further establish Activision as a robust market participant.
Furthermore, the layoffs at Activision are in line with “general trends” in the gaming industry; After all, it is currently suffering generally from layoffs and consolidation measures – a circumstance that can hardly be dismissed in view of numerous comparable events.
It remains to be seen how the new dispute between the FTC and Microsoft will continue and what consequences the court will ultimately draw from it. Previously, in the context of the layoffs, Microsoft had also stated that it had identified “overlapping areas” between Microsoft Xbox and Activision Blizzard – and that in turn had something to do with the takeover. So it remains exciting once again!
Activision-Blizzard takeover – Yes, there really is a trailer for the completion
Sounds almost absurd, but there is actually a trailer for Microsoft’s now completed takeover of Activision Blizzard King.