Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he’ll be stepping down as CEO ofActivision-Blizzard-Kingon December 29, with no direct replacement planned to take his place.
Just days after Xbox’s purchase of Activision-Blizzard-King for $69 billion was finalised in October, it was confirmed that the company’s CEO (Kotick), would be stepping down at some point before the end of the year. An internal memo to staff confirmed as much, but didn’t give a concrete date.
It’s been several months since Kotick’s eventual resignation was shared, and we now have confirmation that he’ll be resigning in just over a week on December 29.The news was first reported by The Verge, which confirmed that a direct replacement for Kotick hadn’t been hired and that several Activision Blizzard executives, such as Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, are being moved kept on at Xbox.
The news was confirmed by Kotick himself in a post on the Activision Blizzard newsroom, which starts by addressing “extraordinary people” before running through his history in games and his time at Activision. The statement ends by praising Phil Spencer, with Kotick noting to staff that they “could not be in better hands”.
“Phil Spencer has appreciated the magic of ABK for decades. When he approached Brian [Bulatao] and me two years ago and proposed acquiring the company, it was immediately obvious that the combination of our businesses would enable us to continue to lead as the list of capable, well-resourced competitors grows.”
Alongside Kotick’s post about his departure, Xbox head Phil Spencer also released an internal memo to staff that has been shared by The Verge. Unsurprisingly, it says nothing about some of the controversial allegations made against Kotick over the past few years, and instead praises and thanks him for his work at the company, before announcing the aforementioned staff changes.
Spencer said, “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.”
