The Federal Trade Commission complained to a federal appeals court on Wednesday that Microsoft’s layoff of 1,900 employees in its video games division went against its representations in court as it fought to acquire Activision Blizzard. The move undermines Microsoft’s claims that the companies would continue to operate independently, the FTC said, and will make it harder to get “effective relief” if the agency succeeds in its administrative proceeding.
From what I understand, it doesn’t work that way. Which is why they are appealing to the 9th circuit court. They’ve been doing this with little success for half a year or so and it’s unlikely they’ll succeed this time either.