Much to his regret, Bobby Kotick has been on a roll for quite some time, and rightfully so.. As you may recall, in mid-2021 it was revealed that Activision Blizzard King’s work culture was simply terrifying. It is obvious that this is due to the actions of many along with the cover-up and inaction of many others, that is, many are to blame for this situation, but from the first moment it was identified as the biggest responsibility for society. Kotick had a role of responsibility for what happened.

Initially, liability was raised in trackingbut some time laterIt turns out that Bobby Kotick had express knowledge of these bad practices, and that in some cases he even acted to cover them up, as The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. The lack of control over what was happening at the company he was CEO had already drawn criticism of his management, but knowing he may have acted as an accomplice to the harassers by covering up their actions puts him beyond any argument that it could be do.try to defend and justify it.

When his position was very publicly questioned (despite the fact that the shareholders had restored their confidence in him a few months ago), the bomb came. Microsoft, which less than two months earlier had criticized what had happened at the company, unexpectedly announced its plans to buy Activision Blizzard King. And despite pushback from ABK investors that Bobby Kotick was leading the process, the company’s permanent chief led it until the acquisition was completed last Friday.

When we reported on this, I closed this report by wondering exactly about her future. Well, now we know: Bobby Kotick will remain Activision Blizzard King until December 31, 2023and this is not a leak, but data extracted from an email sent by Kotick himself to ABK employees, in which he states the following, among other things:

«I have long said that I am fully committed to helping with the transition. Phil has asked me to stay on as CEO of ABK, reporting to him, and we have agreed to do so until the end of 2023. We both look forward to working together to seamlessly integrate our teams and players.»

translated:

«I have been saying for some time that I am fully committed to helping with the transition. Phil [Spencer] He has asked me to continue as CEO of ABK, reporting to him, and we have agreed to do so until the end of 2023. We both look forward to working together to seamlessly integrate our teams and players.»

The email was published by Microsoft itself and you can view it at this link.

It ends this way, 33 years of Bobby Kotick at the head of Activision, which he joined in 1991 (12 years after its founding, in 1979), and in which he was responsible for actions as relevant as the merger with Blizzard in 2007 and the acquisition of King in 2016 to gain weight in the smartphone gaming market. 33 years, which will undoubtedly (and logically) be judged by the total tolerance shown in the face of the harassment and abuse that was regularly perpetrated in society.