2023-12-30 16:26:11
Bobby Kotick’s legacy doesn’t look good
The big picture: It’s been a tough time for Activision Blizzard in recent years. Fans and employees have endured everything from death threats against workers to lawsuits related to reports of workplace misconduct. Microsoft’s recent acquisition represents a potential turning point in restoring the company’s tarnished reputation.
On Friday, CEO Bobby Kotick’s 33-year tenure at Activision officially ended. Kotick’s highly anticipated retirement follows an official announcement from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer earlier this month.
Shortly after his departure, social media came alive with stories about Kotick’s interference in the development cycles of popular Activision Blizzard titles. These claims align with previous criticism regarding Modern Warfare III’s shortened development time and use of recycled “nostalgic” content in place of typical development cycles.
I worked on COD for two years as a programmer at demonware
Bobby’s decisions made our games worse
during my first month it came to light that he had threatened to kill an employee. in all the hands that followed, no one wanted to speak first. so I demanded his dismissal in front of everyone
– Christina æ»ç¥Â (@chhopsky) December 29, 2023
Team members from other Activision titles also expressed their experiences while attempting to develop quality products under Kotick’s leadership. According to a post from Overwatch 2 team member Andy Belford, the CEO ignored warnings about the game’s not-ready state and potential reception before the game’s release. Appropriate actions during development cycles and release could have had a positive impact on the game’s otherwise cold reception.
Breaking my silence to share a fun fact: When we were planning the Steam launch of OW2, my team warned (months in advance) that we were going to be bombarded with reviews. We asked for more information, more details and more resources to help us cope with the expected influx, which we flatly refused.
– Andy Belford (he/him) �’� (@andybelford) December 29, 2023
Activision partners and employees aren’t the only ones celebrating Kotick’s departure. Players around the world have also expressed relief over Kotick’s retirement. A Chinese X user noted that gamers in his country hate Kotick and blame him for Blizzard taking his games offline in China. He claims groups of people celebrated Kotick’s resignation with fireworks in the streets.
The allegations of interference and blatant dislike of Kotick as a leader are not the first flaws in his unsavory record. Following allegations that a voice message threatened to kill an attendant in 2006, Kotick was the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit by a flight attendant in 2007. He later found himself at the center of several alleged incidents of rape and harassment spanning from the mid-2010s to 2021. Earlier this year, Kotick and Activision paid a $35 million settlement after failing to maintain adequate controls for reporting and deal with professional misconduct within the company.
Kotick leaves Activision with more than 30 years at the helm. Unfortunately, he inevitably tainted his legacy by making poor decisions. Major titles such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo have all left their mark on the gaming world under his leadership, but his name likely won’t be positively attributed to any of them.
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