Bobby Kotick out at Activision Blizzard

polygon.com:

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is officially resigning from the company after the completion of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of the gaming developer and publisher. Kotick’s last day is Dec. 29, when Microsoft studio head Matt Booty will take lead of the Activision Blizzard executive leadership team. Kotick led Activision Blizzard for 32 years.

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard leadership team remains largely the same, though several executives are also leaving soon, like chief communications officer Lulu Cheng Meservey, who plans to depart in January. Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced the changes in an internal memo, later obtained by The Verge. The leadership shakeup spans departments, but Spencer said the majority of employees will see no different.

“For most of you, your day-to-day work will remain the same — it’s still business as usual in bringing more groundbreaking experiences to more players around the world,” he wrote. “At the leadership level, these changes will provide the clarity and accountability that is necessary to achieve our ambitious goals and foster a culture that is welcoming, empowering, and committed to Gaming for Everyone.”

In October, Microsoft shuffled several executives; that’s when Booty was promoted to president of game content and studios and Sarah Bond was named Xbox president, where she oversees the console and platform business.

Kotick joined Activision in 1991 and has led the company into many key moments, like the Activision and Vivendi Games merger in 2008 that created the Activision Blizzard of today. Later, in 2016, Activision Blizzard acquired King, the mobile game company. But behind those successes, Activision Blizzard employees questioned Kotick’s leadership in 2021