US Senators 'Deeply Concerned' Over Microsoft's Proposed Acquisition of Activision Blizzard - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 April 2022 / 4,277 Views
A number of US Senators have expressed their concerns over Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
"We are deeply concerned about consolidation in the tech industry and its impact on workers," reads a letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and Sheldon Whitehouse to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan.
The Senators added the acquisition could "exacerbate the flurry of sexual-abuse, harassment and retaliation allegations at Activision stemming from recent federal and state investigations."
There was also a concern that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who has been accused of covering up instances of sexual harassment, will remain with the company after the acquisition is approved and could earn a massive payout. It has been reported Kotick will leave the company once the deal closes.
It was expected the US government would look into the proposed acquisition due to possible antitrust concerns. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes the deal will go through as it would only make Microsoft the third biggest gaming company, behind Tencent and Sony.
A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard released the following statement in response to the letter from the US Senators:
"On Tuesday, the federal court approved a settlement agreement between Activision Blizzard and the EEOC that includes an $18M fund to compensate eligible claimants and to bolster enhancements to policies, practices, and training to prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace, among other commitments.
"The company is committed to a safe and equitable working environment for all employees and has invested significant resources to ensure we’re creating a model for the industry. The transaction between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will not interrupt any of the actions the Activision Blizzard’s leadership team has implemented throughout 2021 and is continuing to implement in 2022 with regards to improving our workplace. Activision Blizzard’s leadership team has discussed the company’s goals at length with Microsoft, and Microsoft has reviewed the renewed culture commitment and actions Activision Blizzard have done so far, and the efforts they've undertaken. Microsoft is supportive of the goals and the work being done. This is a compelling transaction for all stakeholders, including employees.
"No additional special compensation arrangements for Mr. Kotick were entered into in connection with the transaction. Mr. Kotick's base salary has been reduced to California's minimum annual salary (which is approximately $62,500 for 2022), and he will not be awarded any bonuses or equity grants until the Workplace Responsibility Committee of the Activision Blizzard Board of Directors has determined that Activision Blizzard has made appropriate progress toward achievement of the transformational gender-related goals and other commitments described in such announcement."
Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7 billion on January 18 of this year. Video game IPs that will be owned by Microsoft once the deal closes include Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft, and more.
Microsoft plans to honor any existing agreements Activision Blizzard has in place. Once the agreements have been finished the company still plans to release Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles on PlayStation consoles. The company is even interested in taking similar steps to release Activision Blizzard titles on "Nintendo’s successful platform."
Thanks, GameSpot.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Actually, about the abuse and workplace environment I think that acquisition has the chance to clean house in Activision. An investigation and attempt to clean up is much more difficult, if the person investigating are also involved. Microsoft brings fresh leadership, they could make an independent investigation. Actually, the senators shoudl demand this as regulators, the acquisition is only greenlit, if MS forms an investigation committee and reports to the authorities the findings.
Yes but with allegations coming out against The Ori studio and undead studio one might wonder if MS is in a position to even handle something like this. I haven't really dug into the allegation deeply to see how bad it is but two separate studios coming out with complaints at the same time while you're in the middle of a merger with another studio who had problems as well. Not a good look.
Definitely dig into the allegations that have been coming out with Undead, because it does seem like the studio is in a much better state now. Still a lot of work to do but does appear to have turned a corner.
But with the Ori studio, Microsoft doesn't own them and Microsoft actually refuses to work with them again due to the knowledge coming to light of the studios toxic work culture. I always wondered why Microsoft didn't purchase them, but now we know why.
The problem seems to be Microsoft being too hands-off. Which is great from a creative standpoint, but from a people standpoint, Microsoft should always keep their employees and especially HR reps in check. Too many complaints have been made to HR and we always read how these complaints were swept under the rug. With Acti-Blizz, Microsoft will need to be MUCH more hands-on.
I had no idea MS didn't own the Ori studio. I agree MS needs to be more hands on when it comes to HR issues but creatively try to stay out the way (within reason of course). With all that said it seems it's only 1 studio now so not as bad as I initially thought. I'm sure MS can handle this issue.
If these Senators were Manchin, Tester, Sinema, Collins, Romney, or some other moderates, that would be more indicative of a concern. But two of the Senators on this list are the farthest left in the Senate, so not really indicative of what the Senate, as a whole, will think. There will always be fringe Senators who speak out against anything, but it's the moderates that are the deciding factor.
All the shit going on in this world and they are concerned about this?
You know for a fact this is the only topic at hand they are concerned about? You may not be a fan of these particular individuals, but common sense seems to go out the window when politics gets mixed in with anything. This isn't directed just towards you, but in general.
If only they showed the same concern when China buys up everything.
The title of this article is somewhat misleading, especially to people that are not familiar with the workings of the US Senate. There is no evidence that the Senate overall is concerned. There are a few anti-business senators that are "concerned" about anything big companies do. I could argue that this really doesn't have anything to do with the Microsoft Activision merger, even though Microsoft and Activision are the targets of their "concern". The problem is that MS, being one of the biggest (the biggest by some measures, sometimes) companies in the world, shouldn't even be allowed to exist in their eyes.
I’ll say I don’t disagree with this. But I wish they would have had the same concern over Disney and Google acquisitions. It looks a bit like the US government is bullying video game acquisitions. Also, I think it’s more concerning when large corporations acquire smaller businesses that are experiencing quick growth than larger older ones set in their ways and trajectories.
It's crazy that Tencent is in the top 3. You hear about them buying up some small company all the time but never anyone I would consider a big name like Activision or Bethedsa. I was glancing over games Tencent was linked to and I haven't played any of them nor had any desire to. Mostly online crap that seem to get people addicted like League of Legends.
Tencent actually is number 1 when it comes to gaming revenue lol. Riot Games is probably their largest company with League of Legends alone being worth $15 billion last I checked. But with Tencent, it's just how many video game companies they own. It really adds up. A lot of it is in mobile gaming like PUBG Mobile, CoD Mobile. They also are big stakeholders in companies like Epic Games where they have 40% ownership. So they're also raking in that Fortnite money.
So Tencent hasn't been making huge splashes the way Microsoft and to a lesser extent, Sony has. But, by buying out smaller companies, most recently Turtle Rock Studios who made Back 4 Blood, or by making major investments into larger companies continually expands their gaming portfolio and has led them to becoming the conglomerate they are today in the gaming industry.
Actually, here's the rankings:
1) Sony - $24.9 billion
2) Microsoft - $16.3 billion
3) Nintendo - $15.3 billion
4) Tencent - $13.9 billion
5) Activision Blizzard - $8.8 billion
https://www.alltopeverything.com/top-10-biggest-video-game-companies/
So after the deal finalises, Microsoft should be number 1, unless these figures are wrong. Not sure how they would be 3 in terms of revenue.
Odd. I wonder if this was before 2021 financial results were released? Because Tencent's gaming division made $29.3 billion in 2020. I guess numbers are always going to fluctuate lol
That website was debunked already. Most of those numbers are incorrect and way off. Tencent is number 1 and Sony is number 2. They don't even cite their sources of where those numbers came from which already sends red flags.
The tencent figure may not include mobile?
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-xbox-and-nintendo-gaming-revenue-compared-sony-leads-the-way/1100-6500267/#:~:text=As%20rounded%20up%20by%20Niko,and%20%2415.3%20billion%20for%20Nintendo.
PS, Xbox and Nintendo figures are here.
https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-blizzard-announces-fourth-quarter-and-2021-financial
Activison here. Based on 2021 figures if Xbox and Activision merged ($16.28 billion + $8.8 billion = $25.08 billion), their revenue would be higher than PS.
Bunch of PS fanboys...
Really..... -_-
I'd love for one of these acquisitions to get slapped down, but it's almost too little too late. This is definitely a big one, but what about all the telecoms owning at least one movie studio?
Wait wait... when I heard he was doing this "California's minimum annual salary (which is approximately $62,500 for 2022)" I thought it was a nice step but California's base salary is 62k a year? That's £47000. That doesn't seem right.
Every region of the US has vastly different costs of living, so salary doesn't always translate well to other regions, let alone other countries.
https://taxfoundation.org/real-value-100-state-2019/
https://meric.mo.gov/data/cost-living-data-series
I live in Missouri, where money goes a lot further than it does in California, for example.
Someone making $65,000 in SF, California is equivalent to someone making $28,488 in STL, Missouri.
Taxes are ridiculously high in California compared to the Midwest, causing all other expenses and salary's to shoot up to compensate.
Not really a wage gap, as that implies people are poorer in the Midwest. More of a cost of living difference. And that can sky rocket on certain things. You could buy the same house in Missouri for $200,000 that would cost $700,000+ in California.
Anyway, data is fascinating! I'd also be pretty surprised if London had higher taxes than California, but I could be wrong.
It's difficult to imagine left wing politicians having ignorant views.
I´ve said it before and I will say it again. I think MS is just buying themselves a BIG problem. I think it is not worth it. They could totally use that money to buy a bunch of smaller publishers instead.
What you just said isn't even what the article is about. Those Senators are concerned about the harassment going on at Activision and think this acquisition will make it worse (which I HIGHLY doubt). They are also concerned that Bobby will either stay with Activision or get a big payout if he leaves with no consequence.
I'm okay with the merger in general, but to act like the government should just push this through with out a glance, especially with the sexual allegations against Activision/Blizzard, is absurd. For the interest of the workers, they should pressure MS into really committing to fixing the issues.
There will always be more concerning issues. More than one issue can be tackled at once as it should be.
I'm deleting my comments as yeah, I kind of missed the point these senators were making. My bad.
No worries!
Government should have nothing at all to do with it. It's not about pushing through or denying, the problem is that they're in it at all.
