Bobby Kotick Leaving Activision Blizzard on December 29

Bobby Kotick, the long-serving CEO of Activision Blizzard for the final 32 years, is formally stepping down on December 29 as a part of an ongoing reorganization following the acquisition of the corporate by Microsoft.

In a note sent to employees and published on the Activision Blizzard newsroom, Kotick mirrored on his lengthy tenure working the writer. Kotick has overseen Activision by way of over half of its lifespan, having turn out to be CEO simply 12 years after its founding in 1979. He oversaw the corporate by way of quite a few transformations, together with the beginning and supreme success of the Name of Obligation franchise, the Guitar Hero period, the rise and fall of the toys-to-life style, Activision’s merger with Vivendi to turn out to be Activision Blizzard and later acquisition of Sweet Crush maker King, and in the end the acquisition of all of it by Microsoft earlier this 12 months.

Kotick additionally oversaw the corporate by way of a time period referred to as out by the state of California in a 2021 lawsuit as encompassing widespread gender discrimination and gender-based pay inequality. Among the many quite a few accusations levvied in opposition to the corporate relating to its therapy of ladies embody claims that Kotick knew about the accusations “for years” however didn’t actively deal with them. Simply this week, the California Civil Rights Division reached a $54 million settlement with Activision Blizzard over these claims, discovering that “no courtroom or any unbiased investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there was systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard,” or that Activision Blizzard’s board of administrators together with Kotick “acted improperly with regard to the dealing with of any cases of office misconduct.”

As well as, The Verge reports that Xbox head Phil Spencer introduced Kotick’s departure to workers alongside a variety of different organizational adjustments. Whereas Kotick isn’t being straight changed, Activision Blizzard vice chairman Thomas Tippl (who’s departing the corporate in March), Activision publishing president Rob Kostich, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, and King president Tjodolf Sommestad will all now report on to Xbox recreation content material and studios president Matt Booty. Moreover, controversial Activision Blizzard CCO Lulu Meservey might be leaving the corporate on the finish of January. Meservy made waves virtually instantly after her 2022 appointment by pushing back against ongoing collective bargaining attempts by Activision Blizzard workers, and was in the end named in a labor complaint by the Communication Employees of America for her rhetoric. She has since been outspoken publicly about different issues, including Sony’s opposition to Xbox acquiring Activision Blizzard.

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