Jim Ryan, president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, took a stand on the Activision Blizzard affair earlier this week. The PlayStation boss said he was “stunned” and “discouraged” by the way the American publisher had to deal with the crisis. As we suspected at the time, this was just the beginning of reactions from major players in the industry. This time around, it’s the Xbox boss’s turn to express his dissatisfaction with Activision Blizzard’s actions.
It was the turn of Xbox boss Phil Spencer to respond to the Activision Blizzard affair. The Microsoft manager says “distraught and deeply disturbed by the terrible events and deeds“within the American publisher. These statements can be found in an email sent to Xbox employees through the website. Bloomberg.
Phil Spencer steps on the plate
In this internal message, Phil Spencer says that “This behavior has no place in our industry.“He explains that too, that’s why he”re-evaluates all aspects of the Xbox-Activision Blizzard relationship“And that’s what he even claims”proactive adjustments“are ongoing in relation to this same relationship. However, the head of video games at Microsoft does not provide any further details about these adjustments.
Given the scale of the affair, Activision’s largest partners are almost forced to take a stand. But one might wonder what companies like Microsoft or Sony are willing to do. What they are willing to do to force change at Activision Blizzard. For example, could they remove Activision games from their online stores while Bobby Kotick stays in place? Hard to imagine as the sums of money generated by licenses like Call of Duty are substantial.
Bobby Kotick says “the ostrich”
For your information, the recent revelations about Activision practices concern Bobby Kotick. They state that the group’s CEO was aware of incidents of harassment and discrimination. They also claim that he himself was the source of some of the problems. According to new testimony, in 2006 Bobby Kotick even went so far as to threaten one of his assistants with death.
The Activision Blizzard affair is far from over. More than a thousand employees of the American publisher have already signed a letter demanding Bobby Kotick’s departure. Some shareholders are also calling for this exit. And it wouldn’t be surprising if other Activision partners also took a stand. In such circumstances, it seems difficult to imagine a world where Bobby Kotick would stay in office. It remains to be seen how long the American businessman and his most loyal supporters will withstand the scolding.
What do you think of Phil Spencer’s position? Will she change anything? What do you think console manufacturers should do? Do you think Bobby Kotick will keep his job? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
