UPDATE: It's possible Kotick might not remain CEO for long. In an interview with NYT reporter Karen Weise, Kotick said he'll be "" after the deal closes, which might not be for very long.
UPDATE 2: According to reports from , Kotick is expected to step down as Activision Blizzard CEO once Microsoft's deal to acquire the publisher goes through. Original story follows.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Microsoft is buying beleaguered publisher 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Activision Blizzard 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:for the low, lo♍w price of just $68.7 billion. Both companies made the announcement earlier today in respective press releases, and both statements confirmed that CEO Bobby Kotick--the man accused of presiding over a culture of abuse and☂ harassmen꧒t at Activision--will somehow keep his job.
"Bobby Kotick will continue🧜 to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strength🍒en the company’s culture and accelerate business growth," read today’s statement. The only saving grace is that Kotick will soon report to Xbox head Phil Spencer, who has enjoyed a scandal free career.
How Kotick can retain his position despite being perhaps the most toxic man in gaming remains a bit of a mystery. Activision Blizzard's problems first started last summer after a California lawsuit accused the company of harboring a “168澳洲幸运5开奖网:frat boy workplace culture” rife with abuse and discrimination. Kotick managed to deflect much of the blame until a Wall Street Journ🌟al report implicated the Activision CEO dire꧃ctly in emails and interviews with former staffers. Accused of ignoring reports of harassment and even allegedly assaulting a former assistant, the report led to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:renewed calls for Kotick's ousting.
However, it seems like Microsoft has no plans to remove Kotick from his position. In fact, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told investors after the announcement that he was "grateful" for Kotick's "leadership and commitment t☂o real cul𒉰ture change."
That change will have to start soon. The whole 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Call of Duty series is suffering thanks to an ongoing strike that has sid💜eli༒ned the entire Raven Software QA team. Without Raven, bugs and balance issues have sta🐟rted cropping up in both Warzone and Vanguard, with players calling for immediate ac𓆉tion.
Xbox 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:has a history of being hands-off when it comes to its studio purc🧸hases. In this c🍒ase, Phil Spencer and his management team will have to be a little more hands-on.
TheGamer has opted to boycott coverage of Activision Blizzard games in the hopes that other sites will join us and that collectively we can cause meaningful change. We will continue to bring our readers updates of the buyout and will update our stance if and when Microsoft brings about structual changes at ABK. With Kotick remaining, we fear these necessary changes are unlikely.
