Bobby Kotick was a controversial figure during his long tenure as the CEO of Activision Blizzard, and controversy, it seems, is continuing to follow him in the aftermath of his recent departure. More specifically, developers who formerly worked at Activision Blizzard studios have been speaking out on Kotick’s leadership adversely impacted the games they worked on.
Christina Pollock, a programmer who previously worked at Call of Duty support studio Demonware, recently took to Twitter to speak about the same, writing, “Bobby’s decisions made our games worse.”
She continued, “In my first month it came out he threatened to have an employee killed. In the all-hands [meeting] that followed, no one wanted to speak first. So I demanded his firing in front of everyone.”
Allegations that Kotick made death threats against an employee first emerged in late 2021, following which his resignation was demanded by a large number of Activision Blizzard employees with a signed petition.
Meanwhile, former Overwatch 2 community manager Andy Belford also spoke about how his team at Blizzard Entertainment warned Activision leadership “months in advance” that the hero shooter would be review bombed on Steam upon launch, though no support was provided regardless.
“Breaking my silence to share a fun fact: when we planned OW2’s steam launch, my team warned (months in advance) that we’re going to be review bombed,” Belford wrote. “We begged for more information, more details, and more resources to help us with the anticipated influx, all flatly denied.
“Moderation of Steam was put on the community team (not a function of community at Blizzard), despite my refusal to want to expose members of my team to that level of toxic content/posts. When asked whose decision it was to launch on Steam with no additional help: Bobby.”
i worked on COD for two years as a programmer at demonware
bobby’s decisions made our games worse
in my first month it came out he threatened to have an employee killed. in the all-hands that followed, no-one wanted to speak first. so i demanded his firing in front of everyone https://t.co/yhlM5xqPPg
— christina 死神 (@chhopsky) December 29, 2023
Moderation of steam was put on the community team (not a function of community at Blizz), despite my refusal to want to expose members of my team to that level of toxic content/posts. When asked whose decision it was to launch on Steam with no additional help: Bobby
— Andy Belford (he/him) 💙 (@andybelford) December 29, 2023
At the end of everything, player experience/worker meant nothing to CSuite and exec leadership. It was all about that quarters earnings call
— Andy Belford (he/him) 💙 (@andybelford) December 29, 2023
