After mass layoffs, call in angry Duty fans, find out who’s really responsible!

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In 2023, Microsoft finally managed to acquire Activision Blizzard King after long negotiations. There have been many hurdles in their way including Sony, FTC etc. And this acquisition was not cheap; For this they had to pay $68.7 billion. Many Xbox fans expected a lot of exciting new things as a result of this deal, but the first thing that followed was a series of layoffs. Microsoft has laid off about 1,900 employees from its gaming division. They claimed that the layoffs were due to duplication. They may have thought it all went unnoticed, but their fans and the FTC are already asking questions, and Microsoft has an answer for them. Microsoft indicates that all layoffs were in Activision’s plans prior to the acquisition!

Laying off people is difficult; It is undeniable. Losing your job is never a good thing, but whose fault is it? Well, in this case, people have already started pointing fingers at the most obvious culprit, Microsoft. But it’s not just a few people on the internet blaming him for the layoff; That’s what the FTC does. The FTC claims that during its lengthy legal battle over the acquisition, Microsoft suggested that Activision would continue to operate independently after the purchase. In a letter they recently submitted to the United States Court of Appeals, they said: “Microsoft has told this court that ‘the post-merger company will be structured and operated in a manner that will enable Microsoft to readily divest all or part of Activision.’ Business as a strong market participant in case of necessity.’ » It seems they didn’t like the “duplicate” statement made by Phil Spencer during the layoffs. They suggested the statement was “inconsistent with Microsoft’s suggestion… that the two companies will continue to operate independently after the merger.”

This did not make Microsoft happy; It seemed they were expecting it. He already had a statement ready, and that too was not surprising. They responded to the FTC’s lawsuit by claiming that Activision Blizzard Inc. planned to lay off workers ahead of its merger with Microsoft Corp. Their exact statement reads: “In line with broader trends in the gaming industry, Activision was already planning to cut a significant number of jobs while continuing to operate as an independent company. » This is not surprising either; Activision is notorious for laying off large numbers of employees from time to time. But the twist comes when we notice that all the layoffs didn’t just come from Activision Blizzard; Some Zenimax and Xbox employees were also affected by this wave. How this will pan out remains to be seen. After all, Microsoft had to overcome many obstacles to acquire this mega-corporation. These layoffs were planned in a way to improve the performance of his company, but they have already started to jeopardize things. The FTC will not let this happen so easily.

As Microsoft and Activision now work to justify these firings, the FTC will once again do its best to push Microsoft into the fray. He also did not take his defeat well last July. After the Microsoft Activision deal was approved by the EU, the FTC fought harder. Microsoft, for its part, hasn’t even begun to think about how to use everything they’ve got with Activision. They undoubtedly have a lot of plans, but this call may put those plans on hold for a while.