The Activision Blizzard affair continues to take turns, some of which are surprising to say the least. The one in question is one of those we didn’t expect. PlayStation, a long-time partner of the American publisher, has just responded to the latest developments in the case. And clearly, the way Activision deals with things is not right for him at all.
Jim Ryan, President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, expressed his Dissatisfaction with Activision’s actions. The American side Bloomberg just revealed this information. The latter actually got his hands on an email from Jim Ryan to the PlayStation staff.
Jim Ryan and Sony are working hard on Activision
The boss of SIE explains here that he and the management of Sony “discouraged” and “stunned“Because Activision doesn’t have any”do enough to combat the ingrained culture of discrimination and harassment“in this. Jim Ryan also reveals that he raised the matter directly with Activision:
We contacted Activision immediately after the article was published to express our deep concern. And ask them how they intend to approach the statements in the article. We do not consider their response to this situation to be appropriate.
Jim Ryan adds that Sony “is committed to making our developer and gamer community feel safe and respected. It also offers every employee a safe w orking environment.
Sony offers many games produced and / or published by Activision on its consoles. And that has always been the case. Series like Call of Duty are sold millions of times on PlayStation. And the two companies have already closed numerous deals in connection with the marketing of Activision games in the past. The current situation is seriously damaging Activision’s reputation. And unless Activision takes serious action to remedy the situation, the publisher’s continuation of the work could harm Sony.
The beginning of a snowball effect?
It is therefore not entirely surprising that Jim Ryan reacts in this way. And it will be interesting to see if other Activision partners do the same. As a reminder, recent revelations of malicious practices at Activision directly concern Bobby Kotick, its CEO.
According to this, Bobby Kotick was aware of cases of harassment and discrimination at Activision. They also claim that he himself was the source of some of the problems. And that he was the author of Activision’s official response when the affair broke out a few months ago. This heavily criticized reaction has been attributed to one of Activision’s leaders.
The latest news is that the Activision Blizzard board continues to support Bobby Kotick. However, some shareholders are starting to demand his exit. Will that position of Jim Ryan and PlayStation help shake things up? The coming days will tell.
How do you like Sony’s reaction to the Activision Blizzard affair? Does she surprise you? Should Sony sanction Activision until concrete action is taken? If so, what do you think? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
