The Air Is Getting Hot Around Bobby Kotick

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has said that he doesn’t believe in the future of esports, but what is his real opinion on virtual reality?

“Bobby Kotick” is the CEO of “Blizzard Activision”. He has been under fire recently, with many people questioning his decisions. Read more in detail here: blizzard activision.

If the heads of PlayStation and Xbox have already expressed their discontent (and the former is a close buddy of Activision Blizzard…), it’s no surprise that more than 1300 employees or contract workers have signed a petition demanding Bobby Kotick’s resignation…

When Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, was accused in a Wall Street Journal story of failing to treat his female workers correctly and supporting the harassers, the Activision Blizzard controversy accelerated. What was Bobby Kotick up to in the meantime? He stayed deafeningly quiet, as if nothing had occurred to him in the previous week or so.

In a joint statement, the Acti-Blizz board of directors said that they “remain convinced that Bobby Kotick correctly handled workplace problems brought to his notice.” Bobby Kotick has also been accused of suppressing pertinent information from the board about an employee’s sexual harassment, which is shocking. To put it another way, they don’t give a damn as long as they can fill their wallets. The Game Developer went on to state that on an internal call, the board defended Kotick, arguing that he is not subject to zero tolerance since they have no proof to back up the charges made by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which all occurred a long time ago.

However, Jim Ryan and Phil Spencer, the CEOs of the three console makers (since Nintendo is not a key target for Acti-Blizz…), are backing away from the firm. According to Bloomberg, Ryan was “disappointed and simply astonished” by the handling of events around the publisher in an internal email. “Shortly after the story was published, we contacted Activision to express our profound concern and inquire about their plans to address the concerns mentioned in the article. The email states, “We do not feel their declarations of reaction adequately address the matter.”

However, Spencer’s reply is equally crucial: Bloomberg has revealed the contents of the Xbox CEO’s internal email. Bobby Kotick has a poisonous personality and had been aware of issues inside the firm for years, threatening to murder an assistant and refusing to terminate Treyarch’s co-founder Dan Bunting when he was accused of sexual harassment. The Xbox team is “disturbed and profoundly worried” by the “horrific acts and actions,” according to Spencer, who added that they are “examining all areas of our partnership with Activision Blizzard and making continuing proactive modifications.” This sort of conduct has no place in our business.”

Since then, Spencer has verified to IGN that the Bloomberg report is accurate. “I have strong principles for a welcoming and inclusive workplace for all of our workers at Xbox,” he stated, without going into detail about Microsoft’s measures. This is not a destination, but rather an ongoing journey. Xbox and Microsoft leadership stand behind our staff and assist them in creating a safer workplace for everyone.”

“We acknowledge all comments from our valued partners and are working with them further,” Activision said in a statement. We’ve been detailing major improvements we’ve made in recent weeks, and we’ll keep doing so. We are dedicated to making our culture and workplace as safe, diverse, and inclusive as possible. We recognize that it will take time, but we will not give up until our staff has the finest working environment possible.”

Several shareholders, including minority stakeholder SOC Investment Group, have already demanded Kotick’s dismissal. They aren’t alone, though: the ABK Workers Alliance, a union effort inside the publisher, released a document on Twitter demanding for Kotick’s ouster, and over 1,300 employees and contractors have already signed the petition. “We, the undersigned, no longer have faith in Bobby Kotick’s leadership as CEO of Activision Blizzard. According to the petition, “the material that has come to light concerning his behavior and methods in the operation of our firms goes opposite to the culture and ethics we demand of our leadership–and directly contradicts the efforts undertaken by our peers.”

Ryan, on the other hand, may have already issued an order. According to a picture published on Twitter, Acti-cash Blizz’s cow, Call of Duty: Vanguard, is no longer on the PlayStation Store’s highlighted titles list. And this is what we’ve been saying all along: For a console generation, Sony has enjoyed an edge over Call of Duty (pre-release betas, timed exclusives for DLCs…). And it’s a move that may very well be made by the PlayStation CEO. (Before and after photos below.)

And this situation is just going to get worse… Best of all, Jen Oneal, Blizzard’s former co-boss, was paid less than his male colleague…

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