Microsoft's planned $68.7 billion purchase of video game giant Activision Blizzard is, literally, one of the biggest deals ever. By raw dollars and cents, it appears to be the biggest acquisition an American tech behemoth has ever made. It dwarfs not just any deal Microsoft has done, but also anything struck up by Apple, Amazon, Google, or Facebook. It makes Microsoft's $26.2 billion LinkedIn shopping spree in 2016 look small. And it's notable not just for its size but for its timing: The deal comes in the midst of months of uproar at Activision Blizzard over its treatment of workers, many of whom have alleged a toxic, sexual harassment–filled culture at the game publisher. The companies expect the deal to close some time in the 2023 fiscal year, but it'll take longer than that to sort through all its ramifications.

Activision Blizzard is facing criticism for discouraging labor organizing after the video game giant wrote an email to employees imploring them to "take time to consider the consequences" of pushing ahead with an effort to unionize. Brian Bulatao, a former Trump administration official who is now the chief administrative officer at Activision Blizzard, sent an email to the company's 9,500 employees on Friday addressing a campaign led by the Communications Workers of America to organize the workplace. The company behind video games like "World of Warcraft," "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush" has been engulfed in crisis since July, when California's civil rights agency sued over an alleged "frat boy" workplace culture where sexual harassment allegedly runs rampant. The suit also claimed women are paid less than their male counterparts. In his companywide note, Bulatao said employees' forming a union is not the most productive way to reshape workplace culture.

We reported on employees calling for Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick's resignation earlier this week in TMA, but pressure continues to mount. Alongside more than 800 Activision Blizzard employees and contractors that have signed a petition calling for CEO Bobby Kotick to be removed, there have been responses from both the head of PlayStation, Jim Ryan, and Microsoft's Phil Spencer. In a memo obtained by Bloomberg, Spencer reportedly said he and other leaders at Xbox are "disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions" that reportedly took place at Activision Blizzard and that Microsoft was "evaluating all aspects" of their relationship with the game publisher. Bloomberg sources claim Apple is now shifting its attention to a fully self-driving car, not just a more conventional vehicle with semi-autonomous features. New project leader Kevin Lynch wants the very first model to drive itself, according to sources.

Employees and shareholders of Southern California-based video-game holding company Activision Blizzard (ATVI) have called for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick after a Wall Street Journal report Tuesday revealed he was aware of sexual misconduct allegations but did not inform the board of directors. "In contrast to past company statements, CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of many incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and gender discrimination at Activision Blizzard, but failed either to ensure that the executives and managers responsible were terminated or to recognize and address the systematic nature of the company's hostile workplace culture," read a letter from shareholders to the board of directors and provided to the Washington Post. After the Journal's report, over 100 Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout. Along with Kotick, long-time directors Robert Morgado and chairman of the board Brian Kelly were also called on to resign. Kotick disputed the Journal's report and would later share a video message to employees that called for a zero-tolerance policy.