With the previously announced official exit of Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, several developers and individuals who’ve worked with the publisher have publicly shared their own horror stories related to the Ex CEO. One of these stories include a former developer @chhopsky, who recently claimed that Kotick allegedly “threatened to have an employee killed” within their first month working on a call of duty project. This instance was most likely a previously reported case that included the threats as part of a voicemail left back in 2006, that was settled in court and Activision claimed that “Mr. Kotick quickly apologized 16 years ago for the obviously hyperbolic and inappropriate voicemail, and he deeply regrets the exaggeration and tone in his voicemail to this day.”
Another ex worker, Andy Belford, formerly a community team member at Activision-Blizzard, claimed that the team members working on Overwatch 2’s Steam port knew it would be review bombed and “begged for more information, more details, and more resources to help us with the anticipated influx, all flatly denied.”
Breaking my silence to share a fun fact: when we planned OW2’s steam launch, my team warned (months in advance) that we’re going to be review bombed. We begged for more information, more details, and more resources to help us with the anticipated influx, all flatly denied. https://t.co/bALYcb0lg0
— Andy Belford (he/him) 💙 (@andybelford) December 29, 2023
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick formally announced earlier this month that he will be leaving Microsoft Gaming on Friday December 29, 2023 after 32 years in the company. Additionally, Blizzard Entertainment and King vice chairman Humam Sakhnini will leave the company at the end of December, and Activision Blizzard chief communications officer Lulu Meservey will leave at the end of January 2024. Several executives at the company such as Thomas Tippl (Vice Chairman, Activision Blizzard), Rob Kostich (President, Activision Publishing), Mike Ybarra (President, Blizzard Entertainment), and Tjodolf Sommestad (President, King) will now report to Microsoft Gaming game content and studios president Matt Booty. Meanwhile other executives including chief administrative officer Brian Bulatao, chief people officer Julie Hodges, chief legal officer Grant Dixon, and chief financial officer Armin Zerza will leave the board in March 2024.
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