It has been a turbulent 24 hours at Activision Blizzard after the fallout of the investigative report published by the Wall Street Journal. The article directly implicated Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in partaking in sexual misconduct during his tenure and suppressing calls to fire other top executives for doing the same.
In the wake of these new allegations, Activision Blizzard staff have held a virtual walkout for those still working from home and in-person walkouts for those that are at the Activision Blizzard offices in Irvine, California. The walkout was called by the ABK Worker's Alliance hours after the report went public. Activision Blizzard employees have also demanded the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick, but he has yet to do so. Upper-level executives responded by holding a series of all-hands meetings with staff of Activision, Blizzard, and King in an effort to "boost morale."
Activision Blizzard staff were reportedly unimpressed by the contents of the meeting. Statements from staff members at the company have claimed that the meetings were nothing more than one-sided listening sessions with pre-screened questions with executives, and included a pre-recorded message from Mike Ibarra. Kotick did not speak during any of the meetings with Activision, Blizzard, or King employees. The board has decided to further double down the defense of Bobby Kotick and has made no actions to remove or reprimand the embattled CEO. Rather than terminate Kotick from his role, Activision Blizzard is aiming to regain trust with its employees in an attempt to weather this latest firestorm.
Some Activision Blizzard shareholders have joined the calls for Bobby Kotick's ouster from the company. Shareholders led by the Strategic Organizing Center Investment Group (SOC) have called for Kotick's resignation as well as the retirements of Activision Blizzard Board Members Robert Morgado and Brian Kelly. The Board Members are requested to announce their retirements by December 31st or face a vote that may force their removal.
The anger towards the situation at Activision Blizzard has extended outside the company as developers from other studios chimed in at the state of the company's turmoil. Development studios Toys for Bob, Ubisoft, Wild Blue Studios have made statements of solidarity or showed up to protest with Activision staff. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has also voiced his displeasure with Activision Blizzard and is in agreement that Activision has not done enough to address the issues at the company.
The attempt to boost morale seems to predate the Wall Street Journal report with claims that the company decided to give its employees the week of Thanksgiving off. These minuscule efforts have done nothing to address any of the issues brought up by the ABK Workers Alliance and will only continue to damage the relationship between workers, executives, and the audience this scandal continues to grab.
Source: Bloomberg