It has been an exceptionally eventful day over at Activision Blizzard’s slice of the gaming world. In an email to staff, Bobby Kotick revealed that he is stepping down as CEO of Activision Blizzard after 32 years of leading the company. This news comes following the announcement that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is complete.
Kotick isn’t leaving immediately, and he’ll remain CEO until the end of 2023. During this time, he’ll be reporting to Xbox CEO Phil Spencer to facilitate the company’s integration into the Xbox family of first-party studios.
New days for Activision Blizzard
In Kotick’s email, he expresses a positive attitude toward the acquisition, claiming it will allow Activision Blizzard to “deliver more fun, more joy, and more connection to more players than ever before.” He also mentions several of the industry-defining franchises that have come from the company, including Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.
Following the acquisition, Activision Blizzard also released a public statement revealing how, as Xbox’s team, it’ll continue its mission to “deliver the world’s most epic interactive entertainment experiences to more people, more platforms, and across more worlds than ever before.”
Kotick’s career as Activision Blizzard CEO has been an eventful one filled with plenty of successes, including the acquisition of Candy Crush developer King in 2015. However, he has also been the subject of controversy, and there have been reports that he was aware of instances of sexual assault in the workplace.
We already have an idea of what will come from the acquisition, as Activision Blizzard announced that we can expect more of its games to hit Game Pass next year.
