Senators push for FTC review of Microsoft and Activision’s $69B deal
polygon.comFour United States senators have called on Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Lina Khan to investigate Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. In an open letter sent on Thursday, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Cory Booker urged Khan to examine two companies that they say have “failed to protect the rights and dignity of their workers.”
“Workers at Activision Blizzard, following years of rampant sexual misconduct and discrimination and unfair labor practices, have led calls for greater transparency and accountability in the gaming industry, and we are deeply concerned that this acquisition could further disenfranchise these workers and prevent their voices from being heard,” the senators wrote.
Warren, Sanders, Whitehouse, and Booker said the FTC should oppose the deal if it finds “the transaction is likely to enhance monopsony power and worsen the negotiating position between workers and the parties.”
In January, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard; in February, a Bloomberg report said the FTC, rather than regulators from the Justice Department, would review the deal. Activision Blizzard also faces numerous lawsuits regarding the Microsoft deal, as well as allegations and lawsuits regarding alleged systemic sexual harassment and discrimination.
One of the discrimination lawsuits, filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was settled for $18 million earlier this week, an agreement the Communication Workers of America (CWA) called “woefully inadequate.” A lawsuit involving the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is ongoing.
Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick, who has faced calls for resignation from
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