Bobby Kotick will remain Activision Blizzard CEO through 2023

polygon.com:

Twenty-one months since Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal was announced, the $68.7 million merger is complete. It’s a new era for both Activision Blizzard and Microsoft as the ink dries on the video game industry’s largest acquisition, which puts Microsoft and its Xbox brand in a vital position moving forward. Change is expected at both companies, starting at the top: Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is expected to exit the company after a transition that’ll keep him on “through the end of 2023,” according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

Both Spencer and Kotick emailed staff Friday morning to share the news of the completed acquisition. Spencer said in that email, published by Microsoft, that Kotick will report directly to him “to ensure a smooth and seamless integration.” An Activision Blizzard representative declined to confirm to Polygon an exact date for Kotick’s resignation; it’s unclear whether he’ll immediately exit come 2024. Spencer said Microsoft will share more on Microsoft’s “new organizational structure” over the coming months.

Ahead of the deal’s finalization, Kotick spoke to staff in an all-hands meeting — hosted by former late night host James Corden — to discuss the future of Activision Blizzard. There, he discussed the future of gaming, which he apparently believes will include controlling games with brain implants like Elon Musk’s Neuralink. Corden and Kotick also spoke on the company’s “magic” culture.

Kotick’s future at Activision Blizzard has been of internal and public interest since a California Civil Rights Department investigation into the company led to a major lawsuit, allegedly a culture of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination. A Wall Street Journal report published in 2021