For a long time, it has been requested, soon it will finally come true. We now know what will happen to the controversial CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick.
The purchase of Activision Blizzard has taken significantly longer than originally planned. Now that various authorities from numerous nations are no longer obstructing the matter, it is confirmed: Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard and thus the developer of well-known games such as World of Warcraft or Diablo IV. But what does this mean for the current CEO Bobby Kotick?
What will happen to Kotick now? Now that the sale of Activision Blizzard is settled, CEO Phil Spencer has reached out to the staff in an email. It states that “Bobby Kotick will retain his role until the end of 2023” to facilitate the transition. He reports directly to Spencer and is expected to ensure that the merger of the two companies proceeds smoothly.
Kotick confirms this and explains: “I have long said that I feel committed to the transition. Phil has asked me to remain the CEO of ABK, to report to him, and we agreed that I will do this until the end of 2023. We both look forward to working together and a smooth integration for our teams and our players” (via kotaku).
In other words: From the end of 2023, Kotick will no longer be the CEO of Activision Blizzard.
Why is Kotick so controversial? Kotick has long had a bad reputation among players, but employees have also repeatedly spoken out against him. Especially during the large sexism and discrimination scandal that began in 2021, many accusations arose against Kotick. It was increasingly claimed that Kotick had knowledge of sexual assaults and harassment in the workplace but failed to report these incidents.
He was even so unpopular that nearly 1,000 employees participated in “walkouts” and gathered in front of the Blizzard campus to protest against their boss.
However, no resignation occurred back then. There was only the announcement that Kotick would still oversee the acquisition by Microsoft – exactly this will happen until the end of the year. After that, it is currently unclear whether Kotick will completely leave Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, although that seems likely.
At least the popular meme “Bobby needs a new yacht” when a Blizzard game introduces a new microtransaction will probably soon be history.
Whether much will change for the players and employees for the better remains to be seen.
