Update: Kotick told The New York Times this afternoon that he will be "available as needed" after the acquisition goes through, and reportedly declined to confirm that he will be CEO after the deal has been finalised.
Additionally, The Wall Street Journal has suggested that Kotick will be leaving his role following the acquisition.
Original story: In case you missed the news, Microsoft has announced plans to purchase Activision Blizzard in a deal worth just under $70 billion — and it's been stated that Bobby Kotick will "continue to serve" as the company's CEO for now.
Kotick has been in the firing line recently after the company was sued over a culture of harassment and discrimination, which even led to Xbox boss Phil Spencer stating Microsoft was "evaluating" its relationship with the business.
However, in a press release distributed earlier today, Microsoft confirmed Kotick would remain in place:
"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 strengthen the company's culture and accelerate business growth. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming."
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated in the press release that the company is "investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all."
Kotick also had a few comments to share, highlighting that "the combination of Activision Blizzard's world-class talent and extraordinary franchises with Microsoft's technology, distribution, access to talent, ambitious vision and shared commitment to gaming and inclusion will help ensure our continued success in an increasingly competitive industry."
You can find the full press release regarding today's news over at the Microsoft website.
[source news.microsoft.com]
Comments 34
@Carck I didn't think it was bait-y, but I've changed it anyway to avoid any confusion / disgruntlement.
"We haven't negotiated the terms of his buyout yet" i feel certain that his departure was a key component to this deal happening. Microsoft have worked too hard on their image over the past few years.
If they don't get rid of him it will be a bad move for Microsoft, they need to get rid of the trash so Activision can grow in a safe manner for its employees
@FraserG thanks.
Give him a nice compensation package (so he doesn’t sue) and then send him packing!
He wont stay until June 23(the date he used in his statement which is MS financial year end), smart money would be on Mike Ybarra stepping in, in the short term.
We'll see how long that lasts. Man, what a time to be alive.
Good. Let all the court cases be processed and completed. And once you have facts and judgments in a court of law make decisions then.
Whoops. This could have been hero Phil to save the day. Hoping he will still get the push once Xbox are allowed.
This man is disgusting and MS manages to give him the best route out possible !!! I’m ashamed to own an Xbox
Fire him once the deal closes please
Bobby was unlikely to be 'fired' and certainly wouldn't resign so a 'buy-out' was probably the only way to get him out. I doubt he'd remain and under the Microsoft management, which by law cannot take over UNTIL they have officially completed, then it stands to reason that Kotick will remain in place.
I still hold hope that Kotick will have to answer for his actions and any others within the Activision/Blizzard group that also have allegations against them. I also hope that MS's commitment to inclusivity and safety for all in the workplace as well as online, is reassuring to those staff that have had to put up with and work in those conditions...
This is from Daniel Ahmad
https://twitter.com/zhugeex/status/1483444246673772544?s=21
He’s pretty saavy.
Anyway we won’t find out about Kotick’s fate until after this date which is quite some time away.
@mousieone Exactly. It will take MONTHS for the ink to dry. Remember Bethesda the EU courts wanted to check for see if it was anti-competitive, that took months alone. This deal is 9.3x bigger. Won't be seeing the benefit of it for a while. Mid-late 2022 at the earliest.
I'm sure he'll get his nice $50 million + going away present in due time.
I think what people don't understand is that dumping Kotick right away is a terrible business idea. They need him to help transition everything and for Phil to understand how everything is ran. As slimy as Bobby is, you don't want to dump him until after the transition has been made if possible.
@themightyant I read it is looking like June 2023 for finalization of the deal.
And once the merger is complete he'll be out on his rear end I imagine...
That picture is the stuff of nightmares.
@Hobbesyall As others have said I don't think it would have been wise to remove him right away. I think XBox/Microsoft will drop him but only once they're actually in the door, evaluated, and determined who they'd want to replace him. If he's still around come June then yeah it would be pure garbage.
@Bdbrady It takes as long as it takes but what I saw was an expectation of FY 2023 which is July 1 2022 - June 30 2023.
I'd expect mid-late 2022 unless the EU commission takes even longer than they did on the Bethesda deal judging if this is anti-completive.
Maybe games added to GP for Xmas.
I don't think many people here realize that Bobby owns something like 50% of Activision stock.
@FraserG Oh, rest assured, it still is baity.
Making money is the meaning of life.
Why spend all of that money to buy activision and not fire that crackhead on the spot? Even if he no longer becomes the CEO, just having him there in any shape or form is bad for their reputation.
If he stays, I expect all his power will be gone.
So he will prob demand redundancy
Come on Phil you don't need that piece of ****
@Carck No problem!
@isturbo1984 If it's a baity headline to simply repeat what Microsoft has said in a statement, then I can't win 🤷♂️
I saw a chart on Twitter, which is an unimpeachable source, that said he could get as much as $300m buyout if he has to leave his job before his contract is up.
But, but, but, but Phil was all on his PR woke horse on how they will interact with Activision going forward. But to keep the main cause of issues on board as a leader? C'mon man.
@isturbo1984 Clickbait is when the title is purposely ambiguous that you feel forced to read the article to clarify such title. This article's title is not clickbaity at all, since it has enough details to have an idea what the article is about and make you not click on it if you don't want to. Perhaps people confuse clickbait when they really mean ragebait.
Read: he will be available as needed for the on going legal investigations and then he's fired..
And there's our silverlining.
Bobby's out. At the very least, we can put that talking point, and this man's reign of terror, to an end.
@FraserG quotes go a long way, just sayin.
@Savage_Joe Or.--OR... false or misleading info. You forgot that.
@isturbo1984 it wasn't false or misleading. It came from the freaking MS page itself. You are splitting hairs over nothing 😂
@Savage_Joe Calm down, son. I was talking for the most part about the original article, not Fraser's copy+paste job.
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