Jerry Nadler claims to monitor the Activision Blizzard settlement agreement for the benefit of workers and competition

Microsoft’s massive purchase of Activision Blizzard continues to generate reactions. The latest comes from the US political sphere, where a Democratic congressional representative has made his concerns about the deal clear on Twitter, calling for it to be closely scrutinised.

“Activision Blizzard, already a gaming giant, has a model of harassing workers to evade accountability for rampant sexual misconduct. I hope this agreement will be closely monitored to ensure that workers and competition are not harmed,” the politician said on Twitter.

Activision Blizzard — already a gaming giant — has a pattern of bullying workers to evade accountability for rampant sexual misconduct. I expect this deal to be closely scrutinized to ensure that it won't harm American workers or competition. https://t.co/0KdD0GM3YR

— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) January 20, 2022

Clearly, all takeover deals, let alone one with so many assets at stake, will be closely scrutinised by the regulators involved. Indeed, the purchase of Sumo Digital by Tencent Games in the US approved a few weeks ago, with Tencent Games having to clear regulatory hurdles. But it is undoubtedly a first for a politician to show concern about an industry deal.

Analysts see the deal as unlikely to be blocked as it is seen as yet another example of vertical integration. However, there is still a year and a half ahead of where political representatives can lobby to stop the deal or, at the very least, to have it looked at with the utmost attention.

In between, Phil Spencer yesterday left a statement on Twitter aimed at assuaging PlayStation’s concerns shown by the company hours earlier: “I confirmed to Sony our intention to honour all existing agreements after acquiring Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation.”

Source: eseuro