On December 29, 2023, Bobby Kotick officially had his last day as CEO of Activision-Blizzard. This ends a long story with much controversy. Now numerous ex-employees are also speaking out and have very clear words for his leadership style.
Bobby Kotick was at the helm of Activision-Blizzard for a whopping 32 years. During this time, the company went from fan favorite to whipping boy. Kotick is certainly not the only one to blame for this change, but he certainly bears a large share of the questionable business decisions. Accordingly, he was not necessarily the most popular personality in the video game industry and there was great joy when it was announced that he would finally have to vacate the position of CEO on December 29, 2023.
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But it’s not just the fans who are feeling elated about the end of his reign. Activision-Blizzard employees also seem to have suffered from Kotick and have had clear words about their leadership style on social media.
For example, community manager Andy Belford on -Bombings will be received. We begged for more information, more details and more resources to deal with the expected influx, all were refused.”
Of course, that speaks loudly and shows that the management level under Kotick accepted deliberate shitstorms. In addition, according to Belford, community management was not actually responsible for Steam, but Bobby quickly decided to throw the team under the bus.
Breaking my silence to share a fun fact: when we planned OW2’s steam launch, my team warned (months in advance) that we’re going to be review bombed. We begged for more information, more details, and more resources to help us with the anticipated influx, all flatly denied. https://t.co/bALYcb0lg0
— Andy Belford (he/him) 💙 (@andybelford) December 29, 2023
Christina Pollock’s comments also fit in very well with this. The former Call of Duty developer has some downright shocking things to say about Kotick’s reign: “Bobby’s decisions made our games worse. In my first month it came out that he had threatened to have a developer killed.”
i worked on COD for two years as a programmer at demonware
bobby’s decisions made our games worse
in my first month it came out he threatened to have an employee killed. in the all-hands that followed, no-one wanted to speak first. so i demanded his firing in front of everyone https://t.co/yhlM5xqPPg
— christina Grim Reaper (@chhopsky) December 29, 2023
At the next meeting she demanded that he be fired. Of course nothing happened after that, but Pollock emphasizes that it is important to always stand up and defend yourself against tyrants. This is the only way the industry could eventually get to the point of being free of people like Kotick.
Other social media postings show solidarity with the former employees. Time and again, former Blizzard fans find very clear words for Kotick and use creative insults at him. So let’s hope that Microsoft’s studio head Matt Booty does a better job at the helm of Activision Blizzard. After all, the Redmond company is likely to be interested in making the $68.7 billion deal worthwhile.
Sounds almost absurd, but there is actually a trailer for Microsoft’s now completed takeover of Activision Blizzard King.
