Det stod ju klart i slutet av oktober ifjol att Microsoft köper Activision Blizzard för dryga 700 miljarder kronor och den amerikanska konkurrensmyndigheten Federal Trade Commission (FTC) godkände det hela. Men nu har de ångrat sig. Efter att Microsofts Xbox-division nu sparkat 1900 anställda (detta trots att man gjorde dryga 230 miljarder kronor vinst under 2023) menar FTC nu att Microsoft redan brutit mot den överenskommelse som gällde för att jättedealen skulle gå igenom. Överenskommelsen var att Microsoft efter avslutad affär skulle tillåta Activision att fungera som fristående bolag och inte påverkar av Microsofts speldivisions omsättning eller underskott/överskott, men det har alltså Phil Spencer & Co brutit mot, då de kickade 1900 personer som en del av den "överlappande personalstyrka" som kom med köpet.
PC Gamer US skriver följande:
"In essence, this means that if the FTC ultimately prevails against the deal, Microsoft will have to effectively un-acquire Activision Blizzard, a move Microsoft said in its ultimately-successful argument wouldn't be a big deal because "the post-merger company Activision-Blizzard will be structured and operated in a way that would readily enable Microsoft to divest any or all of the Activision businesses as robust market participants in the unlikely event that such a divestiture is ordered."
In another filing, Microsoft said concerns that the companies would not be able to return to a "pre-merger state" were unwarranted because "Microsoft intends to operate [Activision-Blizzard as a limited-integration studio." But the planned layoff of nearly 2,000 employees, announced just three months after the completion of the Activision-Blizzard deal, has the FTC calling foul: In a letter to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (via The Verge), the FTC said the layoff announcement "contradicts the foregoing representations it made to this court."
Ouch!