CEO Bobby Kotick will leave Activision Blizzard on January 1, 2024

Enlarge / Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, in June, arriving to court in San Francisco to testify in the Federal Trade Commission’s suit to stop Microsoft’s acquisition of the company Kotick has led for 33 years. (credit: Getty Images)

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, emailed employees after news of Microsoft’s successful $69 billion acquisition to say that he was “fully committed to helping with the transition” and that he would stay on as CEO through the end of 2023.

Kotick’s statement left some ambiguity about his plans for 2024, but Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that on January 1, Kotick will depart. It’s “a massive change for the video game industry,” Schreier writes, which seems almost restrained, given Kotick’s longevity and recent history. Several employees Schreier spoke to are “very excited for this deal to go through,” specifically to see leadership change.

Kotick, who has led Activision for more than 30 years and orchestrated its merger with Blizzard, had considered stepping down in late 2021. Following a lawsuit from the state of California alleging a “frat boy culture” rife with pay disparity and sexual harassment, a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Kotick failed to act on hundreds of abuse allegations within the company and also kept the company’s board of directors in the dark. Activision was also sued by its shareholders and pressured by state treasurers over its secrecy and responses regarding the California lawsuit. All of this led to an employee walkout and calls for Kotick’s resignation.