It was announced today that Bobby Kotick the CEO of Activision-Blizzard for the last 32 years is stepping down from the company. Bobby Kotick will be officially stepping away from Activision-Blizzard on December 29th of this year. This news comes two months after Microsoft purchased Activision-Blizzard for 68.7 billion dollars back in October.
In an email that was sent to employees of Activision-Blizzard and was posted on the company’s newsroom, Bobby Kotick reflected on his time with the company. Here is a little of what Bobby Kotick had to say in his note to employees:
Extraordinary People, Over the years, my passion for video games has often been attributed to Pitfall!, River Raid, and Kaboom!. I love those Atari 2600 games, but the game that first captured my imagination was Mystery House, developed by Roberta and Ken Williams. I played it on a borrowed Apple II night after night while in college at the University of Michigan.
Mystery House was a text adventure with some primitive sprite-based graphics. (Fittingly, we now own Mystery House and the company that published it, Sierra On Line.) The world in which the game was played was largely left to the player’s imagination. I envisioned rich, vast worlds with all sorts of interactive, animated life that would enable players to fulfill their varied aspirations—all in a simulated universe that offered unlimited possibilities for challenge, connection, and fun.
Forty years later, as my last day leading this company inches closer, I marvel at how far the talented people at our company have come toward realizing the great potential of games. You have transformed a hobbyist form of entertainment into the world’s most engaging medium. It has been the privilege of my lifetime to work alongside you as we broadened the appeal of games.
Perhaps the most important part of my job has been to help bring talented people together, provide the best resources possible, and foster an environment that encourages inspiration, creativity, and unwavering commitment to excellence.
I cannot adequately express the pride I have in the people who continue to contribute to our success and all those who have helped throughout my 32 years leading this company.
Bobby Kotick’s departure comes on the heels of the sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Activision-Blizzard being settled. Back in 2021, the “California Civil Rights Department filed a lawsuit against Activision-Blizzard” alleging “claims of unequal compensation and promotion practices based on sex from 2015-2020”. On the 18th of December, the lawsuit was settled for about 55 million dollars.
The head of Xbox Phil Spencer sent out a memo to employees after Bobby Kotick announced his departure from Activision- Blizzard. The Verge was able to obtain Phil Spencer’s memo. Here is a little of what Phil Spencer had to say regarding Bobby Kotick’s departure from Activision-Blizzard:
Earlier today, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick formally announced that Friday December 29th, 2023 will be his last day at Microsoft Gaming. Under Bobby’s watch, Activision Blizzard in its many incarnations has been an enduring pillar of video games. Whether it’s Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush Saga or any number of other titles, his teams have created beloved franchises and entertained hundreds of millions of players for decades. I’d like to thank Bobby—for his invaluable contributions to this industry, his partnership in closing the Activision Blizzard acquisition and his collaboration following the close—and I wish him and his family the very best in his next chapter.
In the memo, Phil Spencer also talked about the “organizational changes” that will be taking place. The “organizational changes that will be taking place include Thomas Tippl, the vice chairman of Activision-Blizzard, Rob Kostich president of Activision Publishing, Mike Ybarra president of Blizzard Entertainment, along with Tjodolf Sommestad will be reporting to Matt Booty President of Game Content and Studios.” Also “the leadership teams for Activision Publishing, Blizzard, and King will” remain in place, “with no changes to the structure of how the studios and business units are run.”
Matt Booty the President Of Game Content and Studios also sent out a memo after the announcement of Bobby Kotick”s departure. Here is a little of what he had to say:
Today, we are delighted to welcome the talented game development teams from Activision Publishing, Blizzard and King to our Game Studios and Content organization. Together with Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda our studios organization will continue our mission to build world-class games that entertain and inspire players and create lasting communities of dedicated fans.
He also stated in his memo that “Jill Braff will be the head of ZeniMax/Bethesda Studios.” She “will be responsible for guiding the ZeniMax/Bethesda game development team while still overseeing the Microsoft Casual Games Team”. Also, Jamie Leder will be staying in the role of “CEO of ZeniMax/Bethesda.”
As of right now, it’s unknown who or when someone else is going to step in after Bobby Kotick leaves Activision-Blizzard. If you want to read Bobby Kotick’s full memo and or want to stay updated on what’s going on with the company head to the Activision-blizzard newsroom. You can also follow Activision and Blizzard on social media too.