Activision Blizzard Layoffs Draw Complaints from FTC as Battle Over Acquisition Continues

Microsoft’s decision to lay off over 1,900 employees across Xbox and Activision Blizzard only three months after acquiring the latter has been cause for plenty of debate, and it seems U.S. government officials were definitely keeping an eye on the situation. While the Activision Blizzard acquisition has officially gone through, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has not given up their fight against it, filing appeals to block and reverse the deal as recently as this past December, and now they’ve filed a complaint about the recent Activision Blizzard layoffs. According to the FTC, the layoffs directly contradict statements that Microsoft made to them that Acti-Blizz would be operated independently at arm’s length, with no redundancies between the two companies.

"Microsoft’s recently-reported plan to eliminate 1,900 jobs in its video game division, including in its newly-acquired Activision unit, contradicts the foregoing representations it made to this Court. Specifically, Microsoft reportedly has stated that the layoffs were part of an 'execution plan' that would reduce 'areas of overlap' between Microsoft and Activision, which is inconsistent with Microsoft’s suggestion to this Court that the two companies will operate independently post-merger."

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The FTC has a point – many have been surprised to see how quickly and aggressively Microsoft has involved themselves in the running of Activision Blizzard given how they characterized their plans for the company pre-acquisition. That said, even if Microsoft misled the FTC on this front, will it make much difference? In a statement provided to Wccftech, Microsoft argues the nature of the Acti-Blizz deal has changed significantly in recent months...

"In continuing its opposition to the deal, the FTC ignores the reality that the deal itself has substantially changed. Since the FTC lost in court last July, Microsoft was