Published , by Donovan Erskine
Published , by Donovan Erskine
Following the Wall Street Journal report from earlier this week that exposed several instances of abhorrent behavior from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, his future at the video game company came into question as many called for his resignation. However, it seems like that’s not likely to happen, as it’s been reported that Activision Blizzard had an all-hands meeting earlier today, where leadership defended Kotick.
It was first reported by Game Developer that Activision Blizzard held an all-hands meeting earlier today, where the company addressed the latest bout of controversy stemming from the WSJ report. According to the publication’s sources, Activision leadership “continued to stand by Kotick” during the meeting.
We also learned through the call that Activision Blizzard extended the company Thanksgiving break to last all of next week, as it was anticipating backlash prior to the publishing of the WSJ report. During the call, Activision Blizzard leadership read pre-screened questions and concerns from staffers and addressed them. Apparently, one employee asked if the company’s recently instituted zero-tolerance policy would also apply to Bobby Kotick, to which leadership said they did not “have evidence” to prove and punish him for the behavior.
It’s certainly a blow to workers at Acti-Blizz to hear management continue to stand by Kotick. Many had been calling for the CEO to resign from his position, including a group of shareholders that wrote a letter to the board of directors. The WSJ report accused Kotick of defending Dan Bunting and preventing his firing after Kotick learned of sexual harassment allegations. It’s also been revealed that PlayStation head Jim Ryan contacted Activision Blizzard after reading the report in order to learn how the company planned on addressing it. For future updates on the constantly unraveling Activision Blizzard situation, we have you covered right here on Shacknews.