Shortly after it became known that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit with the intention to block the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, the head of the latter published an open address to employees, assuring them that he was confident in the success of plans, although now the company has a difficult test:
Letter from CEO Bobby Kotick about Activision Blizzard’s merger with Microsoft
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Dec. 8, 2022, Activision Blizzard, Inc. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick today sent out the following letter to all employees.
Team,
I’d like to share a brief update on the upcoming merger with Microsoft. This week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced their decision to challenge the deal. This means that they will file a lawsuit to block the merger, and the arguments in favor of it will be heard by a judge.
This sounds troubling, so I want to emphasize my confidence that the deal will be successful. The claim that this deal is anti-competitive is not true, and we believe that we will win this challenge.
Thanks to everyone’s hard work every day, we are on the right track, bringing incredible joy to players around the world with what I believe are the best games in the industry. At the same time, the competitive environment is changing, and simply put, the merger of Microsoft and ABK will be good for players, good for employees, good for competition and good for the industry. Our players want choices, and this will bring them just that. You can learn more about the specifics of these points in this news story that we recently shared with you.
We believe these arguments will allow us to win despite the regulatory environment’s focus on ideology and misconceptions about the technology industry.
Thank you for your dedication and creativity.Bobby.
Also a little earlier, another article was published in which a representative of Activision Blizzard (Jeb Botman, who serves as senior vice president of litigation, regulation and government law at the company) told employees about the situation. It denies all claims that Microsoft intends to become a monopoly and remove its games from other platforms, in particular Call of Duty from PlayStation, because according to the company, it will not bring benefits, but instead will lead to huge financial and reputational losses, because players will just find a more affordable alternative.
This week, Microsoft also announced its plans to release Call of Duty games on Nintendo platforms for at least 10 years. The post quotes Gabe Newell, the head of Valve, who supported Microsoft and said he believes that the company actually plans to release games on different platforms, so no contracts on the release of games on Steam in his opinion and is not required. Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, also spoke on the subject and said that the deal on the contrary will release games, particularly in the Call of Duty universe, on multiple platforms and expressed the hope that Sony someday also want to sign a 10-year contract.
Finally, the article states that this merger will also have a positive impact on the employees of both companies, opening up a lot of room for technological growth, development and expansion.