In a new letter, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has complained that Microsoft's 1,900 layoffs across its video game workforce contradict what was said in the antitrust trial over its now-complete acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The letter was filed to a U.S. federal appeals court earlier today (first spotted by The Verge). In it, the FTC says Microsoft's representation to the court was that "the post-merger company will be structured and operated in a way that would readily enable Microsoft to divest any or all of the Activision businesses as robust market participants in the unlikely event that such a divestiture is ordered.”
The FTC specifically takes issue with Microsoft's assertions that the layoffs would reduce "areas of overlap" between Microsoft and Activision, "which is inconsistent with Microsoft’s suggestion to this Court that the two companies will operate independently post-merger," it says.
The layoffs, the FTC argues, will make it harder for the agency to get "effective relief" should it prove successful in its pending administrative proceeding.
The layoffs were first revealed in January, and have been seemingly been rolling out across Microsoft sporadically. Blizzard's esports divisions, for example, were informed of layoffs on January 30, although IGN understands they were part of that 1,900 number.
Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was finally completed on October 13, 2023, after challenges from the FTC, European Union, and UK's Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA). None were able to stop the merger, although the FTC has continued to argued against the court's decision to allow it to go through.
IGN has reached out to Microsoft and Activision Blizzard for comment.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
