Expansive Workforce Prepared by Microsoft to Join Activision Prior to Completion of Merger

In a fascinating turn of events, Microsoft recently terminated 1,900 employees from its gaming division. What’s particularly intriguing is that a large number of these employees belonged to Activision Blizzard. This resulted in the Federal Trade Commission, the competition agency of the United States (which lost the initial case in court but has yet to conclude the entire legal process), filing additional claims to highlight the impact of these job terminations on the acquisition deal. This move serves to demonstrate that this merger has had a negative impact, leading to a significant number of employees being let go.

On the other hand, Microsoft’s legal team fights back by arguing that Activision Blizzard had planned to terminate employees even before the acquisition deal was finalized. Therefore, the recent rounds of job terminations were not a result of post-merger decisions.

Sources: Bloomberg, MSPoweruser, The Verge

TLDR: Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has resulted in a substantial number of job terminations. The Federal Trade Commission is filing additional claims to showcase the negative impact of this merger. Microsoft’s legal team counters by stating that the terminations were pre-planned by Activision Blizzard.