Activision’s Bobby Kotick May Consider Quitting if Company Issues Not Fixed “With Speed”

Earlier this month Activision Blizzard's longtime CEO Bobby Kotick was snared in the ongoing bigotry and harassment scandal roiling the company, with reports accusing him of personally covering for harassers and mistreating female person employees. Since then, it's been radio silence from Kotick fifty-fifty as the heads of PlayStation and Xbox proclaimed themselves "disheartened" and "disturbed" by the state of affairs and over 1,700 Acti-Blizz employees take signed a petition calling for his resignation. It hasn't been all bad news for Bobby though, equally the company's board of directors continues to back him.

Well, while Kotick has yet to make a public statement post-obit the accusations, according to the Wall Street Journal, the CEO did recently run into with executives from Blizzard, and while he didn't indicate he was stepping down, he "left the possibility open" if Activision Blizzard's current misconduct issues aren't fixed "with speed."

What exactly "fixed" might mean is open for interpretation. Back in Oct, Kotick outlined a number of goals for Acti-Blizz, including implementing a new zero-tolerance harassment policy and putting in place plans to increase the number of women and non-binary people in the Acti-Blizz workforce past fifty percentage. Getting these in place would certainly be a first, only it won't mean much if the actual culture at the publisher doesn't change.

For those who haven't been keeping up, California's Section of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has filed suit confronting Activision Blizzard, alleging gender-based bigotry and sexual harassment at the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher. Activision Blizzard's official response to the suit accuses the DFEH of "distorted […] and false" descriptions and insists the film painted is "is not the Blizzard workplace of today." An open up letter objecting to the official response was signed past thousands of current and former Acti-Blizz employees, leading to a worker walkout. Acti-Blizz CEO Bobby Kotick would somewhen apologize for the visitor's initial response, calling it "tone deaf." Several high-ranking Blizzard employees, including former president J. Allen Brack and Diablo IV and World of Warcraft team leaders have resigned or been fired, leading to name changes for some characters. The story has fifty-fifty attracted the attention of the Usa Federal Government, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opening a "broad-ranging" investigation.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out. Realistically, if no more major accusations emerge, Kotick volition probably quietly declare a job well done and motility on. Of course, everything might change if a new damning report drops. Every bit ever, we hither at Wccfech will keep y'all updated equally the story develops.