Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Steps Down Next Week

gameinformer.com:

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has announced he’s stepping down from his position on December 29. The news comes two months after Microsoft officially completed its acquisition of the developer/publisher. 

While it was previously announced Kotick would remain as CEO throughout 2023 to help ease the Microsoft/Activision transition, it had been believed (though not confirmed) that he would step down on January 1, 2024. Although his actual departure date is only a couple of days earlier, it means Activision Blizzard will be kicking off 2024 without Kotick at the helm for the first time in over 30 years. 

Microsoft has not yet named Kotick’s replacement. According to The Verge, several other Activision executives will be departing the company through March, including vice chairman of Blizzard and King Humam Sakhnini and chief communications officer Lulu Meservey, who leave in December and January, respectively. 

For now, the remaining leadership at Activision Blizzard, such as Vice Chairman Thomas Tippl, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, and King president Tjodolf Sommestad will report to the recently restructured top brass at Microsoft Gaming, namely its president of game content and studios, Matt Booty. 

Kotick sent the following email to employees addressing his upcoming departure:

Kotick became Activision CEO in 1991 and has spearheaded the company’s growth into one of the biggest publishers in the industry. Most notably, he led the acquisition of Vivendi Games, which led to the merger with Blizzard in 2008. Despite the massive financial success he engineered for the company, Kotick has been criticized for oversaturating the market with popular franchises such as Call of Duty and Guitar Hero. Most recently, he came