In an open letter to employees, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick discussed the latest occurrences in the ongoing acquisition by Microsoft.
Despite recent reports that the merger could be in jeopardy, Kotick remains optimistic that the deal will be completed as planned. Discussing how this would affect the future of the company, he stated that the acquisition would help Activision Blizzard maintain its place in an increasingly competitive market.
“With increased competition globally from companies with huge talent pools and resources, becoming part of a company with access to talent around the world will help us fill the thousands of open positions we will have over the next few years,” he stated.
“We have been, and will be, in fierce competition to attract and retain the talent we need to create content that will meet the demands of our growing audiences. Being a part of Microsoft will help us better realize our ambitions and satisfy the high standards of our audiences.”
Optimistic about the future
The deal has already been approved in several territories, including Saudi Arabia and Brazil, with Kotick stating that the Brazilian authority had examined the transaction and “arrived at the understanding that we operate in a highly dynamic and competitive industry, and that the merger will not harm competition in any way.”
Despite approval in some markets, others are proving harder to convince.
The EU yesterday became the latest region to decide that the deal requires further scrutiny, partly due to the potential of Microsoft restricting access to Activision Blizzard’s catalogue of AAA games to Xbox consoles. This has proven to be a point of contention among competitors, with PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan lobbying against the deal.
Kotick states that Activision Blizzard have been “working closely with Microsoft to actively engage regulators in other key countries to answer their questions and provide them with information to assist with their review,” however Microsoft has reportedly refused to formally confirm its intentions to keep Activision Blizzard’s titles available across consoles. Despite this, Kotick expects the deal to be closed on schedule, by the end of June 2023.
In August, we listed Activision Blizzard as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2022.
