Microsoft has announced that Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, will be stepping down on December 29th. Instead of a replacement, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra and Activision publishing president Rob Kostich will report to Microsoft Gaming game content and studios president Matt Booty, per The Verge. Activision Blizzard vice chair Thomas Tippl is also leaving in March 2024 but reports to Booty till then.
With the company for 32 years, Kotick’s position has been questioned since Microsoft announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022 (especially following several lawsuits against the company). Following the acquisition’s approval worldwide, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said Kotick would remain to help with the transition. This is the first official announcement that he’ll be gone when the new year starts.
Other departures include Activision Blizzard chief communications officer Lulu Meservey and Blizzard and King vice chairman Humam Sakhnini (vice chairman of Blizzard and King) at the end of December. Several other executives are also departing in March 2024.
Interestingly, a memo from Booty revealed that Jill Braff is heading up Zenimax and Bethesda’s development teams, having worked on the integration team when the former became part of Xbox. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.
