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Microsoft negotiations started just days after Activision Blizzard expose

Microsoft negotiations started just days after Activision Blizzard expose

Tech and games giant Microsoft reached out to Activision Blizzard just three days after a damning expose into the company.

As reported by CNBC, the Big M started speaking to Activision Blizzard on February 19th, just days after a Washington Post report alleging that CEO Robert Kotick knew about sexual misconduct at the company.

An SEC filing has detailed that Xbox boss Phil Spencer reached out to Kotick on that day – after saying that the company was "reevaluating" its relationship with Activision Blizzard – to discuss "strategic opportunities"; shortly afterwards Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was brought into discussions. The following day, Nadella said that he wanted Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard.

It also appears that part of the haste surrounding this deal was down to a number of other players looking to buy Activision Blizzard. None of these are named, but one outfit was looking to buy just Blizzard.

Microsoft announced in January that it intended to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. This came after several damning reports into the company's working culture.

The FTC is looking into the deal


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.