One of the biggest gaming news this year was Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition. Although gamers had mixed reactions to this huge, it seemed politicians aren’t strangers to the gaming industry. Four US senators expressed that they are concerned about Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition. More details below.
US senators urge the FTC to investigate Microsoft’s latest Activision acquisition
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booke, and Sheldon Whitehouse were the senators who felt concerned over the deal that went down between Microsoft and Activision. Because of Activision Blizzard’s countless scandals and controversies in the past, these US senators want the Federal Trade Commission to look into the deal for any anomalies.
If you’re not in the loop with Activision Blizzard’s problematic culture, the US senators basically summed it up in a nutshell through their letter to the FTC. Read an extract from their letter below:
“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.”
Activision Blizzard’s CEO should own up to his mistakes, according to the letter
Moreover, the senators are concerned that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will stay on while the merger is in process. If this does happen, Kotick will still “win” and walk away with millions of dollars regardless of all the walkouts and petitions his employees have staged. But the employees are not the only ones who want Kotick out; even the company’s shareholders want him gone.
But Activision Blizzard responded through a statement for CNET that they are “committed to a safe and equitable working environment”. We can only hope this is true for the sake of Activision Blizzard’s workers.
If you’d like to read the US senators’ six-page letter, you can find it here.
What do you think about this move from the US senators on Activision Blizzard? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us, here at Spiel Times. Â
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