Activision Blizzard, one of the most prominent companies in the video game industry, is currently under heavy fire both within and from the public. Most of this is centered on the company's leadership, particularly CEO Bobby Kotick, who over 1,000 Activision Blizzard petitioned to remove from his position.

The call for Kotick's departure is not a new one, but the intensity of those calls have redoubled after a recent Wall Street Journal article on the Activision Blizzard CEO. The article claims that Kotick knew about the mistreatment of female employees within the company at large and did nothing to resolve the issues, even adding to it himself.

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As part of this article, many women directly accused Kotick of mistreatment, including one direct threat which was later settled out of court. Amidst this storm of accusation and fury, Girls Who Code is ending its partnership with Activision Blizzard. Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the gender gap not just in the gaming industry, but in many coding and computer science fields. Its goal is to help women get better paying and benefitted jobs in these fields across the board.

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With that said, it's easy to understand why Girls Who Code is ending its relationship with Activision Blizzard. According to Girls Who Code, as long as Activision Blizzard's priorities are Kotick's, Girls Who Code cannot work with the company. Presumably once Activision Blizzard becomes a more healthy environment for female employees Girls Who Code may extend an offer of partnership again, but that may be a long way off under current leadership. After all, it seems that the inequality and mistreatment currently extends even to the highest level of the company, with Jen-Oneal, former co-lead of Blizzard, only offered equal pay after resigning her position.

While Girls Who Code is ending its official partnership with Activision Blizzard, it will hopefully still stand with the company's employees, who are actively advocating for a change in leadership. They are not alone either, as Activision Blizzard's shareholders are calling for Kotick's resignation. With how much bad press he is bringing the company, this is hardly a surprise.

In point of fact, the problems are extending beyond the bad press and bad will towards Activision Blizzard at this point and may soon begin seriously impacting its business. With recent flops under the company's belt and the ongoing scandal, even Xbox is "evaluating" its relationship with Activision Blizzard. Unless things change soon, even this giant company may face real, foundation-shaking trouble.

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