Activision Blizzard Employees Demand CEO's Resignation After New Wall Street Journal Report

Isabella James, Tech Times 16 November 2021, 10:11 pm

Activision Blizzard employees have walked out from work, including online, and demanded the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick after a Wall Street Journal report said that he knew about the sexual misconduct allegations in the company for years.

The report said that Kotick either hid his knowledge about the allegations or minimized the severity of the allegations not just to employees but to the board of directors as well.

Both Activision Blizzard and its board of directors have responded to The Wall Street Journal's report. Activision Blizzard says that the report is a "misleading view" of both Kotick and the company.

Activision Blizzard Employees Demand CEO's Resignation

Activision Blizzard employees have walked out from work, even virtually, after a new Wall Street Journal report said that CEO Bobby Kotick knew about the sexual misconduct allegations in the company and either hid his knowledge or minimized their severity.

The employees are demanding Kotick's resignation, per a report by Polygon.

One of these allegations, according to reports, is a rape accusation. According to The Wall Street Journal, a former Sledgehammer Games employee alleged that she "had been raped in 2016 and 2017 by her male supervisor after she had been pressured to consume too much alcohol in the office and at work events."

Sledgehammer Games is a studio owned by Activision. It is known as the studio of the "Call of Duty" video game franchise. The franchise's latest release, "Call of Duty: Vanguard," just came out early this month.

Per a separate report by Polygon, Kotick also knew of a sexual harassment incident at Treyarch "in which the Call of Duty studio's co-lead was accused of sexual harassment."

Kotick, according to Polygon, intervened so that the disciplinary measures that will be handed out will be limited.

Activision Blizzard was sued in July by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) following a two-year investigation into the "frat boy culture" in the company. Then-Blizzard President J. Allen Brack resigned after the lawsuit had been filed.

Activision Blizzard Responds to the Report

Polygon's report includes a statement from Activision Blizzard that says The Wall Street Journal's report is "a misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO."

The statement insists that sexual misconduct allegations that were brought to Kotick's attention have been acted upon.

Activision Blizzard has also said that The Wall Street Journal's report has ignored the important changes that the company is making so that its workplace can be more inclusive. Included in these changes is a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct.

The company's board of directors has also released a statement, saying that they are confident that the Activision Blizzard CEO appropriately addressed the issues that he was made aware of.

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Written by Isabella James