Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard but the deal is not yet exactly closed. And also when the deal from 68.7 billion dollars will be made official, Microsoft will still have to face some serious issues that the acquired company will take with it.
The problems Microsoft will face with Activision Blizzard
The first problem that Microsoft will have to face concerns thetoxic work environment and the accusations received.
Since July 2021, Activision Blizzard has found itself in one unpleasant situation due to the allegations of toxic behavior in the workplace. The instances have been unearthed largely due to various official legal complaints submitted by U.S. regulatory bodies, including one from the California Department, one from the Securities and Exchange Commission, and one from the U.S. Employment Commission.
The complaints detail the allegations of sexual harassment, bullying in the workplace, demeaning behavior and cases of sexism e racism. The complaints eventually led to one employee strike, when the support is withdrawn by the sports sponsor and also to several resignation e layoffs of high profile employees from different firms.
Raven Software’s potential syndication
Since the July walkout, many Activision Blizzard employees have collectively founded a group, called Activision Blizzard King Worker’s Alliance. The goal is to create a better working environment in the company.
In December, the demands for organization became even more insistent when many employees of Activision’s Raven Software studio they started a strike, still ongoing, with the aim of push the company to recruit several collaborators who had been suddenly fired right before the holidays. The same group is also trying to unionize the studio.
Unionization tends to take a significant amount of time. This means that if Activision Blizzard employees were to organize themselves on a large scale, it would likely be Microsoft’s job working with e recognize the trade unions themselves.
Activision Blizzard CEO: Bobby Kotick and the allegations
Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, has been a controversial figure in games for years. The criticisms of Kotick only escalated after the many allegations in legal complaints, with many who asked for hers resignation. Despite all these alleged problems that emerged during his time at the head of the company, however, Kotick remains CEO of Activision Blizzard. AND Microsoft confirms it.
The initial news of the Microsoft acquisition prompted many to reiterate that Kotick he should be fired. But business is not that simple. The big management changes are rarely announced in the middle of an acquisition, partly because the buying company he actually has no control over the company he is trying to acquire.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Kotick should leave after the completion of the merger, which will likely take place in 2023. But don’t expect to hear anything definitive about Kotick’s future until the deal is closed.
Blizzard public opinion
Aside from its cultural problems, Blizzard He does not feel good not even from the point of view of public perception of video games. Although Blizzard, separate from Activision’s library, owns some of the Most impressive IPs in the entire gaming market, many of these games are not doing well.
World of Warcraft is suffering from the expansions and the massive wave of frustration on the part of the players. Instead Diablo 4 e Overwatch 2 they are getting lost in long and turbulent development processes. The IP of StarCraft has been largely inactive since 2015’s StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void, and the only games on the horizon are mobile only versions of the major Blizzard franchises.
It will take some time but we are confident that Microsoft will be able to solve most of these problems. After all, if he has decided to buy Activision Blizzard there will be a reason and we believe that the company has clear ideas.