Microsoft Needs To Put Workers First In The Activision Blizzard Takeover
The news that Microsoft is acquiring Activision Blizzard has been met with terror and excitement in equal measure by the gaming community. The $70 billion acquisition raises a lot of interesting questions about the future of the industry and our favorite IPs. Everyone wants to know what happens next. Does this mean Activision Blizzard games will be Xbox exclusive? How many games will get added to Game Pass? Does this mean new Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Guitar Hero, and Skylanders games are on the horizon? Is Microsoft monopolizing the industry?
The conversation seems to be centered around the toys, rather than the people who make them. Activision Blizzard still has deep, systemic cultural issues, and getting purchased by Microsoft isn’t some kind of magic wand that makes all of that go away. In fact, it may do just the opposite by making labor organization more difficult for ABK workers.
Related: 5 Things Microsoft Needs To Bring Back After Buying Activision Blizzard
Many of the conditions that Activision Blizzard employees are fighting for still have not been addressed. In November, the ABK Workers Alliance called for the removal of CEO Bobby Kotick for the role he played in protecting abusers at the company. Kotick is still running Activision Blizzard, and we know now that he will continue to hold the CEO position at least until the acquisition is finalized. This is bound to be a long process. Microsoft finalized its acquisition of Bethesda in March 2021, six months after the deal was first reported by Bloomberg News. Activision Blizzard will cost Microsoft ten times what it paid for Bethesda, which could lead to a much longer approval process from regulatory government bodies in the US and EU. The Bethesda deal was
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