- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
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They’re not too happy, and they may even write a strongly worded email expressing their unhappiness.
You jest, but the FTC is trying to appeal (undo) the merger in court, and this makes their case a lot stronger: https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/us-ftc-tries-again-stop-microsofts-already-closed-deal-activision-2023-12-06/
For a 68,000,000,000$ deal, even if this helps the FTC by 1%, that’s a huge risk
Good. After they un-merge them they can break them up into even smaller pieces. That way in another 30 years when we forget about antitrust against they can re-assemble the monopoly. Fun for everyone!
Basically Ma Bell.
I got the ill communication
If they actually managed to, my faith in humanity would be restored a little bit
You took all that effort to put the zeros and commas in, but put the $ on the wrong side of the number.
Neat.
oh no, literally undecipherable
Probably European.
What?? On the internet???
WOAH WOAH WOAH LET’S KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE HERE
They didn’t even slam them.
Or even give them a good BLAST.
The FTC Bukkakes Microsoft Over Activision Blizzard layoffs
That’s the kind of click bait we need.
you cant just blindside job creators with that, think of the neppies /s
Microsoft reneged on promises it made in court…
If those promises aren’t legally binding, then why take them into account in the first place?
I will literally never understand why the word of a corporation has any weight if it isn’t bound by law.
You need to force corporations to act if it’s against their own interests.
It is because the billionaires write the laws through ALEC. The only part of the system which isn’t working as intended is that they had to make any promises in the first place.
Damn, would be crazy if they succeed in undoing the merger. Would be nice to see some consequences for blatantly lying to the court.
No you see it’s OK to lie to the court when you’re rich or a multinational company
Hmm, SCOTUS can see no issue with that argument. Passes historicity test for what the founders intended.
Except it doesn’t but that hasn’t stopped them from making up history in the past, even in the very case they set that test… Blind mice for referees.
Microsoft has realized it can do absolutely anything and that the government will do absolutely nothing. And what is the point of all of this? A few already, enormously wealthy executives get a few more millions of dollars? Who fucking cares? The real important thing is the people doing the work to create a product that millions of others enjoy. That they have a job and can earn a livelihood. But none of that matters to the psychopaths who run these corporations. Why do we continue to allow this to happen? I don’t know why I even bother writing comments anymore. I’ve depressed myself.
The only way to fight back is with your wallet. Unfortunately we are SUBSTANTIALLY outnumbered. It is what it is.
Who is outnumbered ?
People that are willing to abstain from purchasing a game in protest versus the “shut up and take my money” masses
I’m still boycotting World of Warcraft, even though I’m a big fan of Warcraft and RPGs.
I simply refuse to pay a subscription.
Luckily, that worked well and the game didn’t take off at all.
When your weapons are dollars, we are woefully ill equipped
This is why I have no qualms about piracy. The workers get shafted either way.
Blizzard don’t make Blizzard games anymore, all of the original staff left a very long time ago. They are just Blizzard in name and nothing else.
i’m all for the government breaking up corps, or stopping mergers, but this one needed to happen. however much it cost to get Bobby Kotick gone, is a net positive.
besides, we’re talking about spending Microsoft’s money. they fucking got it. so what’s the fuss?
if the deal had been blocked, how would that have been better for the industry? also, probably the more important question, how would that have been better for the consumer?
I’m not upset about the merger. I’m upset about Microsoft lying to the government and probably getting away with it. And the money should be used to pay the employees who actually create the products, not gone to enrich the assholes in charge, who think they do important jobs.
You’re kidding right? Bobby Kotick doesn’t give a shit, he’s laughing all the way to the bank. He’s the only winner in this situation other than Microsoft. Regardless of the Microsoft merger, he was on his way out, he would’ve left even if it hadn’t gone through, this just gave him an excuse to leave quicker and get a fat paycheck on his way out.
It’s also not about spending Microsoft’s money. Yes they have it, but consolidating so many developers under one roof removes an aspect of the competitive market. Which historically means less competition, higher prices, less innovation and poor quality control.
But I mean, hey, you get CoD on gamepass now! That’s pretty cool right?! Right…?
What’s the alternative? Communism? State ownership of the means of production? Those are worse.
Yes, the only options are crony capitalism and communism. Nailed it.
Did not say crony. And yes, there are alternatives like feudalism, you think they worth mentioning? And I specifically mentioned state ownership too, so, you can count socialism (as economic system there too).
Did not say crony
It’s silent, but it’s always there. It’s like the silent q in ‘cat’.
Cqat?
The actual fuck did they think was gonna happen? Literally everyone saw this coming except the FTC somehow I guess.
The FTC knew it was coming, and tried to stop the merger. But they got shot down in the courts, because a judge believed Microsoft was going to be benevolent and not immediately lay off all of the acquired company’s employees.
This is the FTC’s way of publicly slapping the judge.
I’m sure the judge is losing sleep over this…
The FTC tried to stop the merger, it’s not their fault. Blame the courts.
I don’t think I’ve seen a game studio acquisition happen without layoffs of some sort. Doesn’t make it right, but it does seem like a horrible routine.
The price tag, followed by a massive round of layoffs is eyebrow-raising.
Stock markets love capex, hates opex.
“Well done, you’ve spent 75 billion to buy market share!!”
“Oh no, you would spend at least 230 million/year for these employees - that just won’t do”.
Nevermind the fact that 1900 roles also buys market share (and you could run 1900 people for 300+ years), but opex is opex and execs are bonused on margins.
And the worst part is they will then brag about how low their opex is to the employees that are still there in the quarterly all-hands, as if it isn’t representing how much money they are making but not paying to employees. Well, ok, the worst part is the doing rather than the bragging, but still.
Idk, I’m starting to think that the shamelessness of bragging to your employees that you’re fucking them over is worse. At the very least, the employees should feel insulted that they’re supposed to be excited about it.
I wonder how many even realize that operating profit even is the money they make after paying every single expense including salaries.
Generally, the ones who understand the numbers are making enough that they don’t feel as fucked over. In my experience, anyway
For the unaware:
Capex=capital expenditures. These are the one-time purchases, which grow the business.
Opex=operating expenditures. These are the recurring costs of doing business. Payroll, utility payments, rent for office buildings, etc…Basically, the stock market loves it when you buy things. Stock owners see it as growing the company, and therefore growing the value of the stock. But they hate operating expenditures, because those make the company seem less valuable; Buying Activision (capex) is great for stock prices, but paying their employees (opex) isn’t.
This is why big corporate acquisitions are usually immediately followed by huge rounds of layoffs for the acquired company. The new company owns the things, but doesn’t want the opex to show up on the next quarterly expense report. So they’ll usually gut the acquired company. Because they’re usually buying other companies for things like copyrights, patents, trade secrets, etc… If they were interested in the employees at the acquired company, they’d be using recruiting tactics and headhunting, instead of simply buying the entire company.
Yeah but 1,900 staff, come the fuck on that’s a mass exodus not a layoff. I’m in a company of 300+ people and it’s a HUGE number of people, I can hardly process over 6x as many layoffs…
Oh absolutely agreed. It just sucks that this isn’t unusual, no matter how small or great the number. Hope the peeps get snatched up by better studios
I don’t think I’ve seen a game studio acquisition happen without layoffs of some sort. Doesn’t make it right, but it does seem like a horrible routine.
It really depends on if the layoffs were done because they were duplicate people for the same job position, versus clearing house so that the stockholders are happier by having better profits.
And yet
They talk about broken promises and misrepresentation of what they would do after the merger. Corporations aren’t people and don’t have morals to stop them from breaking promises or just flat out lying. The only way they will do anything is if it makes them money or they are forced (regulated)
This also pretty shitty on account that Kotick initiated loads of layoffs just before acquisition talks were even public. This is usual practice to make the company seem more valuable.
What did they think was going to happen?
Well I for one am shocked to see a megacap do significant layoffs after M&A, talk about breaking with tradition!
And I’m not too happy with how capitalism chows down on the poor like the fucking Oroborus it is yet here we fuckin are.
Eli5 please… in lieu of US trust busting, couldn’t literally any government entity like the EU, where msft etc Al do business, have stopped this acquisition? How did this happen in the first place?
but how can i, a humble citizen, help the FTC in its long term mission of protecting my labor rights… what can i do to help them be more effective in labor negotiations on my behalf, i wonder…
Like when do big mergers like this not end in layoffs? The redundancy in management wouldn’t make sense. Like what does the FTC think Microsoft was going to do? 😆
It was more than just managers and redundant positions that were laid off. And it was mostly blizzard employees laid off specifically.
Also
/no please don’t attack this innocent multi trillion dollar company
I don’t think he was defending the company, more saying that OF COURSE they’re going to do big layoffs, it only makes sense, and so if you (the courts) don’t stop them, then well… You don’t blame a lion for hunting a gazelle, it’s just what they do.
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