Bobby Kotick Blames Overwatch And Diablo Delays For Falling Stock Prices Instead Of, You Know, Everything Else
Bobby Kotick is, allegedly, the worst. I'd get more specific, but there's just too much to list. The fact that he is said to have known about the alleged abuse at his company for years, but did nothing, is bad enough. And that's not even getting into how he reportedly sent a death threat to a female employee.
These are the stories that dominated the headlines in the latter half of 2021 - hardly good press for Activision Blizzard. So if you're looking to pin its declining stock prices on anything, this seems like the obvious cause, right? Well, not according to Kotick. While he concedes that the allegations have "contributed" to the fall, he pins the blame on Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4's delays - going after the very workers currently speaking out about abuse, crunch, and cover-ups.
Related: Microsoft Needs To Put Workers First In The Activision Blizzard Takeover
Speaking to Venture Beat, Kotick was asked about the company's declining stock prices, which many suspect lead to the deal with Microsoft being finalized. "I think what affected the stock price more than [the allegations] is pushing out Overwatch and Diablo. And then I think people started to see that this year’s Call of Duty wasn’t performing as well." Kotick said. "I think certainly the [California Department of Fair Employment and Housing] filing and the Wall Street Journal article contributed to that, but stocks go up and down for a variety of reasons."
If true, this is a pretty damning indictment of the corporate side of the industry, where selling games is more important than the welfare of the people behind them. Furthermore, Kotick doesn't shoulder any of the blame for these delays, despite workers now coming out and saying that poor management held up
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