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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick continues to hit back against the Microsoft merger being blocked in the UK. Now, Kotick is saying that even more mergers should be permitted, in a bid to compete with the likes of Tencent.
These comments come from a discussion with CNBC, 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.
"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, with Raven Software staff staging a walkout last year over mass 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 rise just 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 that Microsoft would have to pay a $3 billion "breakup" fee if the acquisition is blocked. But right now, that possibility seems pretty far off, as the decision by UK regulators is being appealed.