Former Activision boss Bobby Kotick has made a quantity of claims concerning the state of his former firm, Call of Obligation, and the console market as half of a response to a lawsuit.
Kotick, who left Activision Blizzard on the finish of 2023 having bought the corporate to Xbox maker Microsoft for $69 billion {dollars}, is battling buyers who declare he rigged the sale to maintain his job and $400 million in change-of-control advantages, and to insulate himself from claims he knew about widespread sexual harassment at Activision. Kotick has denied any wrongdoing.
The buyers are led by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-fonden (AP7). They’ve accused Kotick of dashing into the Microsoft merger, and contend the $95 per share takeover worth was too low from the outset. AP7 names Kotick, Activision Blizzard, and its proprietor, Microsoft, as defendants.
As reported by Game File, Kotick has now issued his response to the allegations. In it he accuses Swedish sport firm Embracer, which owns the rights to the likes of Tomb Raider, Lifeless Island, and Lord of the Rings, of being concerned with the lawsuit and benefitting from it, one thing the corporate has denied.
Half of Kotick’s defence makes use of the declining monetary efficiency of Activision Blizzard, Call of Obligation, and the console market in recent times to again up his declare that promoting to Microsoft at $95 a share was the fitting factor to do at the moment. And one quote particularly is being picked up by the Call of Obligation neighborhood as being of curiosity:
“At this time, on condition that console gross sales are at an all-time low and Call of Obligation gross sales are off over 60% from the prior yr, Plaintiff needs to be expressing excessive gratitude for the foresight Activision management demonstrated in consummating this transaction.”
As Sport File factors out, Kotick failed to present proof of his 60% gross sales decline declare, and neither Microsoft nor Activision have introduced a gross sales determine for Black Ops 7 but. However we do know Black Ops 7 has struggled in gross sales phrases in contrast to Black Ops 6, a proven fact that’s mirrored in all the pieces from European gross sales figures to Activision’s personal admissions. Circana has reported that November full sport greenback gross sales of Call of Obligation: Black Ops 7 completed beneath these of Call of Obligation: Black Ops 6 final November, with Call of Obligation: Black Ops 6 launching within the October 2024 monitoring interval.
In fact, none of this takes under consideration the Sport Go impact. Call of Obligation now launches day one on Microsoft’s subscription service, which is able to little question have an effect on gross sales at the very least on Xbox consoles. However a 60% gross sales decline is a gigantic drop-off even with Sport Go thought-about. IGN has requested Activision for remark.
There’s information to again up Kotick’s declare about consoles. November 2025 was an incredibly horrible month for online game gross sales within the U.S. Certainly it was the worst November in online game {hardware} unit gross sales, and the worst in bodily software program greenback gross sales the U.S. has seen since 1995. Extra particularly, {hardware} spending was down a whopping 27% year-over-year to $695 million, the bottom {hardware} spending complete for November since 2005’s $455 million. Even worse, unit gross sales reached 1.6 million, which is the bottom November complete since 1995’s 1.4 million.
And that is consultant of declines throughout the board. Xbox Collection {hardware} gross sales have been down 70% year-over-year. PS5 gross sales have been down over 40%, and mixed unit gross sales of Nintendo Swap and Nintendo Swap 2 have been down over 10% from Swap gross sales final yr, regardless of this being a launch yr for the Nintendo Swap 2.
Kotick repeated his 60% declare elsewhere in his response, the place he took a shot on the U.S. Federal Commerce Fee’s try to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buyout. Half of the FTC’s argument was that Microsoft proudly owning Call of Obligation would give it an unfair benefit within the gaming market. However Kotick insists that the struggles of Call of Obligation within the face of stiff competitors from the likes of Battlefield present that not to be the case.
“The Firm’s precise efficiency since January 2022 is telling, uniformly lacking the Lengthy Vary Plans’ goal metrics — which ought to come as no shock, on condition that the Firm traditionally missed practically all of the bold targets set forth in its Lengthy Vary Plans, a reality identified properly to the Board when the deal was negotiated,” Kotick’s response reads. “All informed, had the deal not gone via, this might have doubtless resulted in a considerably decrease inventory worth, as is definitely established by Activision’s monetary efficiency post-closing, which has been far beneath the bold targets contained within the plans.
“Call of Obligation is on monitor to carry out over 60% beneath final yr as a result of of intense competitors from titles like Battlefield — destroying the FTC’s now defeated argument about Call of Obligation’s purported monopoly and the shortage of competitors within the first-person motion sport class.”
Following the discharge of Black Ops 7, Activision introduced vital modifications to the Call of Obligation franchise, together with promising by no means to launch again to again video games in the identical sub-brand (Fashionable Warfare, Black Ops). Activision launched Fashionable Warfare 2 in 2022, Fashionable Warfare 3 in 2023, Black Ops 6 in 2024, and Black Ops 7 in 2025. Activision Blizzard is anticipated to announce this yr’s Call of Obligation in the summertime.
Photograph by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Pictures.
Wesley is Director, Information at IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You may attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.