Head of Xbox Phil Spencer Joins PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan in Criticizing Activision Blizzard - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 November 2021 / 3,818 Views
It was reported this week Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick knew for years about the sexual misconduct allegations at the gaming giant. Later in the same day over 100 employees staged a walkout calling for Kotick resign and be replaced with a new CEO.
Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan sent out an email to employees saying he was "disheartened and frankly stunned to read" to read the report and that Activision "has not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment."
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has now joined Jim Ryan in criticizing Activision Blizzard in an email to employees obtained by Bloomberg.
Spencer says Xbox is "evaluating all aspects of our relationship" with Activision Blizzard. He and the gaming leadership team are "disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions" at the publisher.
A group of Activision Blizzard shareholder with a total of 4.8 million shares (out of roughly 779 million total shares) in a letter to the company's board of director have called for Kotick to resign.
The shareholders are also calling for the two longest serving directors on the board, Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado, to retire by December 31. Kelly is chairman of the Activision Blizzard board of directors and Morgado is a lead independent director.
The shareholders said that if Kotick, Kelly and Morgado don't resign, they would not vote for the reelection of the current directors on the board at the next annual meeting in June 2022, and is urging other shareholders to do the same.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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if you are concerned do not buy anymore of their products!
Off topic: The comment threads on articles are often better than the forums here lately.
Seems this email was clearly sent just for the sake of PR and reputation. Sony may have done it for the same reason, knowing it would be leaked, but Phil’s email being sent after feels especially fake and staged.
I can only imagine how many internal emails these guys had to send to confirm there is no harassment going in their studios before making these statements.
I hope they're not dumb enough to have those conversations via internal e-mail, considering what the WSJ just uncovered about Activision. They should be calling personal cell phones so that they can talk freely.
I'd wonder if Nintendo would join in but...not sure Nintendo has leverage the way the guys with COD do.
I hope this tanks their stocks further and then I'll buy in and wait for the turn-around.
Some people here still defend Kotick, despite a grotesque amount of evidence that he treats his employees like shit.
But then again there are people who think Harvey Weinstein was the victim, even after he was found guilty. Because nothing can ever be the harasser/rapist's fault, it can only be the person who gets harassed or raped who is to blame, everything else is cancel culture!
You want the board to fire him, 'the damned mob' wants the board to fire him. That's all we ask for. So what action of 'the damned mob' do you have a problem with exactly.
The legal system still has shit to do with it, they will handle the charges he faces, and decide if he gets a fine or goes to prison, his job situation is not their concern. It is not like his previous sentences got him fired anyway.
I wonder how many of the people Activision fired over the years got the privillege of a legal process before their contract was terminated? My guess is about zero. So no, you definitely think these CEO's deserve an extra layer of immunity, because of their position of power.
Bobby Kotick sent death threats to a woman to stop her from speaking out against him in court. The threat is recorded on tape and he admitted it himself. You don't need a court to figure out that he is a piece of shit. A court can only decide if he has done something criminal. How you judge him as a person is up to you.
What right channels?
The justice system has no power over who Activision choose to have as CEO. That's the board of director that choose that.
The employees and the public are only doing what is right when they request that he gets fired.
Brian kelly needs to go , more so than kotik. He makes more money than bobby, has more activision shares, and overlooks everything. He is more to blame than anyone else.
It's not the justice system that hires and fires people
Unfortantly this is a issue we deal with in the modern age. Its also alot easier to blame the head. People are jealous and hated Kotick way before this harassment was put to light and people hate him now. People want to jump on anyone they see too successful for thier liking.
Boycotting and sacking the CEO will not stop work harassment and crimes unfortantly. I agree with you in that this should be dealt in a court of law, not by some media outlets.
If Kotick is proven innocent than these media outlets and those that follow are no different to the harassments going on.
People hate Kotick for his money, heck i remember people hating Bill Gates because of his money. Its a lot easier to point the finger at one guy which to this point, is innocent until proven guilty.
Its a natural human behavior to cast blame on others. Same with sports, the coach is the one that gets the sack if the team doesn't preform.
At the end of the day, ill wait for actual results before casting my judgement.
Sacking or Boycotting will not stop work place harassment or crimes. People just want to see others burn.
Why are you all playing devil's advocate for a piece of shit CEO, because of money?.
Why are you throwing Bill into this, as if it's an MS side to defend?. Bill left years ago and isn't in control, but Bobby has been in control for years and still is.
it's baffling to watch gamers(tm) defending a rich af CEO like this.
I am not defending Kotick, i don't care about the guy, however my morals don't change. Unless his proven guilty, i am not throwing my hat in the ring until its been proven. The internet and media are not the justice system.
I used Bill as an example of people hating rich people and want to watch them burn, even when they have done nothing wrong.
Kotick has been part of Activation since 1991 and was CEO in 2008. Activision has been pretty good in the past. Why all of a sudden his being judged on how poorly the company is being run? what about when Acitivison was on top of their game?
Activison isn't just one building where he works directly with all his staff. His the CEO and he wouldn't even know 90% of the staff at his company. If harassment happens, that doesn't mean he saw it with his own eyes.. in fact a lot of questions are being raised to why are these issues being brought up now and not at the time they happened? How come no one cares to hear his side of the story? pretty unfair to cast judgment without learning his side. There are always 3 sides to a story. Their side, Your side and the truth.
Everyone has had bad moments in their life and its just another method of blowing someone up, by going over his entire life and picking out his flaws. You can do that with anyone and find some saucy info on anyone, no one is perfect.
Does Kotick need to retire, probably, it is his fault that this has happened? No idea. Ill wait for actual evidence to prove his fate. I don't just hate on someone and wish the worst on someone unless the justice system has had their say.
You know how i know people just hate Kotick for jealously and off topic reasons? Its because no one is asking for Bobby's side of the story, instead they see an opening and choose to attack without knowing the truth because they just want to see blood.
Like i said i am, i am not defending the guy, i don't care for Bobby, he ruined Blizzard in my eyes. However this recent case, nothing has been proven (yet) or that its any of his fault. We don't know if he has done his part. Unless its proven, we are just using a previous case (probably not work related, no idea) to bring him down. The previous case doesn't mean its his fault his employees are harassing people today.
I don't care if Bobby steps down or gets sued, as long as its for all the right reasons and not just internet propaganda.
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