Bobby Kotick has officially stepped down from Blizzard

Amidst an abundance of issues surrounding Activision Blizzard, CEO Bobby Kotick has announced he is leaving the company.

The news of Kotick stepping down isn’t really shocking for anyone in the gaming community. It’s been rumored during the entire Microsoft acquisition that Kotick would be leaving Blizzard and he confirmed this decision with a letter to employees back in October.

In the letter, Kotick told employees that he would be at Activision Blizzard for the rest of 2023 to support them during the transition. It’s also on record that Kotick would receive $500 million from the acquisition, another reason to stick around.

Kotick is going to officially leave Activision on December 29, 2023.

Who is the new CEO of Activision Blizzard?

Now that Kotick is officially leaving, who is next to take on the role of CEO? Microsoft’s game content and studios president Matt Botty is going to fill Kotick’s role, as reported by The Verge.

In the memo received the The Verge, Kotick wrote that the leadership structure would otherwise remain the same. Activision vice chair Thomas Tippl, Activision president Rob Kostich, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, and King president Tjodolf Sommestad will report directly to Booty.

Kotick’s reign over Activision Blizzard was full of a lot of controversies. While there were great moments with Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, there was also misjudgments with Overwatch and the handling of the Overwatch League. Blizzard was also caught in some massive gender discrimination lawsuits, including sexual assault, stolen breast milk, and women missing out on deserved promotions.

“I cannot adequately express the pride I have in the people who continue to contribute to our success and all those who have helped throughout my 32 years leading this company,” Kotick wrote.

For now, most employees will continue to operate as they always were.