Seamus Blackley, the creator of Xbox, has reacted to Microsoft’s purchase by referring to the Activision Blizzard controversy

 

 

Not even a month has gone by in 2022, and we already have the news of the year in terms of video games before us. Yesterday, Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard for nearly 70 billion dollars was announced, something that has left no one indifferent and has caused Activision’s shares to soar.

The reactions have not been long in coming, especially in relation to the situation that the company has been dragging along, with the controversy of the cases of sexual harassment and abuse in the company that had put its president, Bobby Kotick, in the eye of the storm. The fact that the CEO and the rest of the company’s accomplices in these bad practices will make even more money with this operation has not pleased Seamus Blackley, creator of the original Xbox, who no longer belongs to Microsoft.

 

I am sickened that the reward for years of despicable practices toward developers seems to be a huge payday for its perpetrators. My hope is that the acquisition will cause the Activision culture to change, and may catalyze some accountability for those who have so far avoided it

— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) January 18, 2022

 

“I’m disgusted that the reward for years of despicable practices towards developers is a big payday for those in charge,” he tweeted on his official account. “My hope is that the acquisition will bring about a change in Activision’s work culture and can hold accountable those who have so far avoided it.”

“I believe strongly in Phil Spencer as a leader and executive. I think it’s a smart move and could represent a huge win for Xbox. There are huge challenges in every major operation, but I only see overriding issues with the work culture, above all else.”

 

It’s terrifically, incredibly, head-meltingly weird to see little baby Xbox eat up Activision. Some still at Activision will recall a young Seamus showing up claiming things about a new game console, only to be essentially mocked. I wonder if today they remember that.

I do.

— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) January 18, 2022

 

“It’s incredibly strange to see little Xbox eat Activision,” said Blackley, who is waiting, as we all are, to see what happens with Bobby Kotick. For the moment, he retains his position as part of the process of the operation, but his future is uncertain despite the knowledge that ousting him from the post would be very costly even for Microsoft’s interests, which will have to deal with this situation in the best possible way.

Source: guardadorapido