Microsoft says its 1,900 layoffs "cannot be attributed fully to the merger" because Activision was already planning massive cuts of its own

gamesradar.com:

Today, the US Federal Trade Commission criticized Microsoft for its plans to lay off 1,900 employees in the wake of its Activision Blizzard acquisition. Now, Microsoft has issued a response, saying that these layoffs "cannot be attributed fully to the merger," especially because Activision Blizzard already planned on eliminating a lot of jobs before the deal went through.

Basically, the FTC has argued that since Microsoft is eliminating redundant positions between itself and the incoming Activision Blizzard, it's no longer going to be in a position to divest itself of the new business if regulators decide that's necessary. Importantly, Microsoft said in court that it was going to make sure Activision Blizzard would be able to operate independently in the "unlikely event" it'd be necessary to split the company out again.

Now, Microsoft has issued a response, saying that "the FTC’s factual assertions are incomplete and misleading. Consistent with broader trends in the gaming industry, Activision was already planning on eliminating a significant number of jobs while still operating as an independent company. The recent announcement thus cannot be attributed fully to the merger."

Additionally, Microsoft says it "continues fully to stand behind its representations to this court." The company says that "while some overlap was identified and some jobs were eliminated, Microsoft has structured and is operating the post-merger company in a way that will readily enable it to divest any or all of the Activision businesses as robust market participants in the unlikely event that a divestiture ultimately is ordered. This is precisely what Microsoft represented previously."

In other words, Microsoft is arguing that Activision Blizzard will still be able to operate independently even with all these layoffs, contrary to the FTC's fears. More importantly, it seems like the messy fight between the company and federal regulators isn't quite over yet.

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