Activision Blizzard has used the most combative language thus far in advocating for its planned acquisition with Microsoft. Activision Blizzard’s optimistic comment comes as the purchase faces increasing scrutiny from a number of influential regulatory agencies wary of the possible ramifications of approving the merger.
A year after announcing its $68.7 billion purchase, Microsoft is still feeling the effects of rapid expansion. The earliest stages of the deal’s execution went over without a hitch in Saudi Arabia and Brazil. In fact, the Brazilian Administrative Council even went so far as to criticize Sony’s arguments. In spite of this, fourteen nations are still delving into the details, and the same viewpoint has convinced the officials in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The comments from Sony and Microsoft to an Issues Statement provided by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last month have been made public, providing the greatest degree of transparency yet on the conflicts and viewpoints maintained by each side.
According To Lulu Chen
After the CMA was released, Activision Blizzard’s chief communications officer Lulu Chen Meservey moved to Twitter to address what she called “speculation concerning Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard.” The CEO was emphatic when he said, “Any idea that the merger may have anticompetitive repercussions is ludicrous.” Meservey, who seems to be framing the matter as an international battle, said that “this union would help players and the US videogame sector” without providing any evidence to support his assertion.
Seeing a lot of speculation about Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Any suggestion that the transaction could have anticompetitive effects is absurd.
This merger will benefit gamers and the US gaming industry — especially as we face stiffer competition from abroad.— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) November 24, 2022
Meservey proceeded, toning down her previous vehemence, to restate Activision Blizzard’s intention to “operate closely with regulators,” but with the proviso that the business “won’t shy to battle” in support of the purchase. Microsoft’s chief of entertainment, Phil Spencer, has been mentioned extensively over the last several weeks about the purchase, highlighting the growing public nature of the issue since conversations involving Xbox and PlayStation executives seemed to yield little result.
Meservey’s comments are an intensification, as he has labeled every opposition as “ridiculous,” and they are an implied response to rumors that the FTC is about to bring an infringement complaint to extract compromises from the parties involved before accepting the purchase. After a victorious union ballot by quality assurance engineers at Blizzard, Meservey rejoined Activision Blizzard in November and “warned personnel through Slack that union may lead to lesser increases and difficult battles with managers,” following a story by Kotaku. Although the recently recruited CEO has said that her comments are her own, they may be indicative of the direction Activision Blizzard may take in the future.
