Activision BlizzardCEO Bobby Kotick continues to hit back against theMicrosoftmerger beingblocked in the UK. Now, Kotick is saying that even more mergers should be permitted, in a bid to compete with the likes ofTencent.
These comments come from a discussion withCNBC, in which Kotick comments on the recent setback in getting the Microsoft deal over the line. Here, he says that the gaming industry needs more consolidation, despite Microsoft having already scooped up numerous studios over the past few years.
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“I think at some point, you’re gonna start to see the regulators realize that we’re seeing [an] enormous amount of high-paying jobs getting lost from tech companies,” says Kotick. " I look at ByteDance, Tencent. These are the best companies in their industries in the world…For American companies to be able to effectively compete we have to be able to have consolidation and have these kinds of mergers."
Clearly, this is Kotick trying to put a pro-worker spin on the merger. This is significant, given Activision Blizzard’s very public workers' rights issues, and even abuse allegations in the workplace.
Despite these feelings that the industry will have to consolidate, Kotick was quick to add that Activision Blizzard can continue if the deal doesn’t go ahead.
“We’re a strong company,” says Kotick. “And I think whether the deal goes through or not…we continue to operate as an independent company. It just gets more challenging when you’re operating in a global market.”
It’s not surprising that Kotick has taken this angle, as Activision has also been no stranger to layoffs, withRaven Software staff staging a walkoutlast year overmass redundancies. With this in mind, it seems that Kotick is suggesting this wouldn’t have happened if Activision Blizzard had been scooped up by a larger company like Microsoft, with the industry needing to consolidate to compete with the likes of Tencent, and therefore, retain staff.
However, Microsoft has recently had a mass layoff of its own. Back in January,Microsoft confirmed that it would be cutting 10,000 jobs, albeit alongside many other companies in the tech industry. Despite this,Microsoft’s CEO took home a 10 percent pay risejust before these layoffs were announced. This netted him a salary of $2.5 million, and an additional $54.95 through bonuses. With this in mind, it’s not clear how this can be solely pinned on regulators being cautious when approving huge mergers such as this.
In any case, even if the deal is scrapped, Activision Blizzard will be sitting pretty. The same interview revealed thatMicrosoft would have to pay a $3 billion “breakup” feeif the acquisition is blocked. But right now, that possibility seems pretty far off, as the decision by UK regulators is being appealed.
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