Game giant Activision Blizzard has been criticized by investors for sexual harassment and management confusion, but has pushed the escape capsule switch. Microsoft has agreed to buy cash for $ 68.7 billion.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was rumored to be retiring as the company, which employs nearly 10,000 people, continues to investigate SEC and sexual harassment scandals (2021, now: More than 2,000 ex-employees have signed a document stating that the company’s response to the discrimination lawsuit is “disgusting and insulting,” and more recently, more than 1,000 employees have signed a request for Mr. Kotick to retire.) .. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cotic has been aware of allegations of sexual harassment and rape in his company for years, but has taken no action. But Microsoft says Cotic will remain CEO with this acquisition. Activision Blizzard will report to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming and head of Xbox as a whole.
“Microsoft, as a company, is committed to inclusion in all aspects of the game, including both employees and players,” Spencer wrote in a blog post on January 18th, implicitly proceeding with Activision Blizzard. Mentioned the uproar inside. “We also believe that creative success and autonomy are inextricably linked to treating everyone with dignity and respect. We make this commitment to all teams and all leaders. We want to extend the culture of active inclusion to a great team at Activision Blizzard. “
If Mr. Cotic stays at the top, the news of the acquisition is unlikely to ease employee concerns. Activision Blizzard employees have been demonstrating several times in protest of the ongoing sexual scandal as well as the dismissal of the Call of Duty quality assurance officer. Senior test analyst Jessica Gonzalez said:ABetterABKAppearing as a leader in the workers’ alliance and making a name for himself as one of the biggest internal voices calling for a company transformation, he announced his resignation at the end of November 2021.
Gonzales joins Activision Blizzard’s in-house SlackPostHowever, the resignation message published on Twitter said, “Your recklessness and refusal of accountability will drive out talented people, and the product will be forced to struggle until you are dismissed from the position of CEO. It will be. ” “It sounds tough, but you must have had years to fix the culture, but look at the current state of the company.”
In an email to Xbox staff in November, Spencer said in an email to Xbox staff that he “evaluates all aspects of his relationship with Activision Blizzard and continues to make positive adjustments,” in light of allegations about the company. Says. Last week, when news of the Activision Blizzard acquisition wasn’t known yet, Spencer was asked in a New York Times interview about his relationship with the stigmatized game giant.
“For us on the Xbox, this isn’t a source of information for other companies,” Spencer said. “The history of the Xbox isn’t that clean either.” At Microsoft’s party at the 2016 Game Developers Conference, the company hired a female student dancer to reveal the same “boys” nori culture that has caused many problems with women throughout the gaming industry. There are times. “That was one of the most painful things in Xbox history,” Spencer added.
According to a press release, the transaction will make Microsoft the world’s third-largest gaming company in terms of sales, after Tencent and Sony. Activision Blizzard has mega titles such as “World of Warcraft,” “Call of Duty,” and “Candy Crush,” and Microsoft Gaming manufactures the Xbox console. Microsoft recently announced that it will include Activision Blizzard games in its cloud gaming distribution service Game Pass, which has reached 25 million subscribers. Activision games, on the other hand, boast nearly 400 million monthly active users.
I’m on vacation today (lol) but if I were not I would be calling up some antitrust experts because Xbox buying Bethesda and now Activision sure seems like the type of horizontal merging that the DOJ frowns upon
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022
I’m on vacation today (laughs), but if not, I would have called an antitrust expert. Because Xbox is about to buy Bethesda. The Activision case will now be seen as a horizontal integration that the Justice Department is reluctant to do.
This isn’t the only acquisition of Microsoft over billions of dollars. At the end of 2020, Microsoft announced plans to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, which produced popular games such as Edler Scrolls, Doom, and Fallout. rice field. As a result, the Justice Department may raise concerns about Microsoft’s monopoly on the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. For example, Meta is currently being sued for antitrust violations regarding its growing VR business. Ironically, however, the acquisition could make Meta a bit more competitive in the area of virtual reality.
“In the entertainment world, games are currently the most dynamic and exciting category for all platforms, and play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and CEO. It will be. “
The board of directors of both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard has approved the acquisition, but the acquisition itself will be completed in 2023 at $ 95, which exceeds the market value of Activision Blizzard per share. I plan to do it.
Image Credits: Troy Harvey / Bloomberg / Getty Images
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