The following statement can be attributed to George Rakis, Executive Director for NextGen Competition (nextgencomp.tech):

In its monopolistic march to acquire Activision, Microsoft’s threats and history of intimidation against the Competition Markets Authority has paid dividends—unfortunately, at the expense of consumers across the globe. The closing of the largest merger in tech history marks a sad day for competition, worker rights, and consumers.

Microsoft’s agreement with Ubisoft to manage Activision’s cloud streaming rights for only 15 years is little more than a Trojan Horse as many experts agree that technology may not even reach maturity until the Ubisoft agreement expires. If the goal is to prevent Microsoft from monopolizing a nascent sector, this agreement may not even delay that outcome—let alone prevent it. The company's choice to partner with Ubisoft is no surprise, as it appears that Microsoft has a type. The same frat boy and anti-union culture that governs Activision Blizzard also pervades Ubisoft.

Microsoft continues to put workers on the backburner with no plan to address these toxic cultures. Just last week, the Communications Workers of America filed another National Labor Relations Board complaint against Activision’s management. After a 20-year effort by the labor movement, Microsoft has only allowed a fraction—0.25%—of its U.S. workforce to unionize. It’s made numerous commitments to labor that we doubt will be fulfilled.

And worst of all, never in the history of the world has one company become so dominant across so many platforms and been allowed to entrench itself so deeply in the lives of consumers and in their data. This acquisition sets a troubling precedent for consumer privacy that will further power Microsoft’s surveillance advertising machine. We expect that Microsoft will race to fold Activision’s data into the tech giant’s enormous trove of user data that will supercharge its capability to track and target consumers across numerous platforms while further cementing its dominant position in AI and cloud computing.

We urge the FTC to continue its effort to scrutinize and ultimately unwind this merger. Consumers, competition, and a healthy economy depend on it.

About NextGen Competition

Our mission is to support a robust and competitive technology ecosystem by opposing anti-competitive business practices and promoting greater industry accountability. Specifically, we oppose consolidation in the industry that undermines worker protections and employer accountability, threatens data privacy and security, encourages market concentration, and limits consumer choice. NextGen Competition intends to work with a broad coalition of unions and public interest partners as it seeks to oppose anti-competitive business practices.