Activision Blizzard just can’t seem to get out of the headlines and has once again unleashed a new shitstorm, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal. We also recently published an article about how CEO Bobby Kotick apparently knew about the sexual abuse cases at his company for years, but did nothing about it, nor did he inform the board or investors about it.
Despite all this, the company, or rather the board, is holding on to Bobby Kotick. Employees are demanding that Kotick be fired immediately.Meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft are also quite worried and have addressed the problem with Blizzard internally. Sony’s PlayStation’s boss Jim Ryan as well as Microsoft’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer have both turned to their companies to address the situation with Blizzard.
Microsoft & Sony interfere
Sony’s Jim Ryan reportedly reached out to Activision Blizzard directly after the news surrounding Bobby Kotick, telling the company that they are deeply concerned wondering how to respond to the latest allegations and accusations against Bobby Kotick. Ryan also said that he feels Blizzard is not behaving properly in regards to the latest allegations and that the company is “not addressing the situation properly.”
Two colleagues and I spent months reporting on allegations of sexual misconduct at Activision and what CEO Bobby Kotick knew and did about them. I hope you’ll read the story we just published. I’ll also thread key findings… https://t.co/QoTGrwLEbB
— Ben Fritz (@benfritz) November 16, 2021
A day later, Phil Spencer penned a similar letter to his Xbox staff, stating that he and the executive team were “troubled and deeply disturbed by the terrible events and actions at Blizzard” mentioned in the report. He also said that after the latest scandal, they are thinking very carefully about how to continue to deal with Blizzard from now on, and they will have to re-evaluate their business relationship with Blizzard depending on how the situation develops.
In short, both companies are considering whether to continue working with Blizzard. Also a group of shareholders sent a letter to Blizzard’s board demanding Koticks resignation. Employees are also fed up and demand this man to be fired already.
I am never going to buy an activision-blizzard game ever again as long as boby kotick remains ceo
— Ben the oze maki stan (@Benthestanman) November 19, 2021
Employees are protesting
Immediately after the Wall Street Journal article was published, several hundred Blizzard employees left their offices to protest. In addition, thousands more other employees joined virtually. Shortly after, a petition was submitted by them demanding that the CEO leave immediately:
“We no longer have confidence in Bobby Kotick’s leadership as CEO of Activision Blizzard. The information that has come to light about his conduct and practices in running our companies is contrary to the culture and integrity we demand of our leadership and directly contradicts the initiatives that have been launched by our peers. We are demanding that Bobby Kotick step down as CEO of Activision Blizzard and that shareholders be allowed to select the new CEO without input from Bobby, who we know owns a significant portion of the shareholders’ voting power.”
Please get rid of Boby Kotick that animal should not be in the gaming industry.
— Graphically Challenged (@GraphicallyChal) November 18, 2021
Apparently, Blizzard employees are willing to take no more crap and fight for their rights, as the petition already has well over a thousand signatures. It’s still unclear what’s next for Bobby Kotick, but as soon as we know more, we’ll put out an update on the situation.