More movement is coming in the scandal at Activision Blizzard. Six “State Treasurers” are getting involved – and demanding changes.
The pressure on Bobby Kotick and Activision Blizzard is increasing. More changes are being demanded – now even from the governments of a total of 6 states in the USA. The “State Treasurers” from California, Massachusetts, Illinois, Oregon, Delaware, and Nevada want to speak with the Board of Directors of Activision Blizzard later this month. They want drastic changes.
What is happening at Activision Blizzard? For months, Activision Blizzard has been embroiled in a major sexism and discrimination scandal. After the company took initial steps to seemingly bring about improvements, a series of further negative headlines followed shortly thereafter.
The head of Blizzard left the company shortly after her appointment because she felt she was treated worse than her male colleague.
Worse still, current CEO Bobby Kotick is said to have not only been aware of the incidents of sexism but also actively participated in them and even threatened an employee with death. Since then, calls for Kotick to resign have become louder and he has come under media scrutiny.
What has happened now? The State Treasurers of 6 US states want to meet with the board of Activision Blizzard by December 20th. They are concerned about the incidents and doubt that the company is currently on the right path to address the problems.
The magazine Axios has asked Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs some questions in an article. It turns out that they are “concerned that the current CEO and board do not possess the necessary skills or willingness to tackle the major changes needed to transform the corporate culture and restore employee and investor trust in their partners.”
Furthermore, Deborah Goldberg, the State Treasurer of Massachusetts, stated that “this particular case is waiting for the board to intervene and initiate an investigation. A proper investigation coming from outside. And, I mean, how was it, two weeks ago they [the board] said they support their CEO?”
The involvement of official government officials in such a high position also adds additional pressure from the public.
Demands for resignation are getting louder: Since an article from the Washington Post, the calls for Bobby Kotick to resign as CEO have increased. Not only part of the Blizzard employees have demanded this, but also prominent figures such as the heads of PlayStation and Xbox have suggested that Kotick resign.
Kotick himself mentioned his resignation as an option if he fails to eliminate the issues with the corporate culture at Activision Blizzard within “a short time”.
The pressure on Kotick is rising, and with the involvement of the State Treasurers, public pressure – especially from the USA – is likely to significantly increase.
As soon as there are new developments regarding the whole Activision Blizzard case and Bobby Kotick, we will of course inform you on MeinMMO.
