Bobby Kotick Departure Has Devs Telling Their Horror Stories

In my first month, it came out he threatened to have an employee killed.

christina 死神
@chhopsky via X

Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick left his position yesterday. This was in part due to Microsoft buying out Activision earlier this year. Bobby Kotick’s legacy has left a sour taste in many devs and fan’s mouths. As he was one of the most hated gaming CEOs in the industry. After his departure, many fans and devs took to Twitter to express their frustrations while Bobby Kotick was in power.

“In my first month, it came out he threatened to have an employee killed.” tweeted a former Call of Duty developer Christina, known on social media as Chhopsky. “In the all-hands that followed, no one wanted to speak first. so I demanded his firing in front of everyone”. Newer devs were scared of voicing their concerns about Bobby Kotick. While Christina mentioned in her tweets that it was very important for senior devs to speak out. ”With my seniority and ease of other opportunities, that affords me certain protections and safety to do such things…you all need to get on board this train. We all need to revolt against people like this, every time.”

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

Former Activision Blizzard Employees Speak Out About Working With Bobby Kotick

A former community manager for Overwatch 2, Andy Belford had other things to say. “When we planned OW2’s steam launch, my team warned (months in advance) that we’re going to be review bombed.” tweeted Andy. “We begged for more information, more details, and more resources to help us with the anticipated influx, all flatly denied.” Andy went on to mention that moderation for reviews and forums on Steam was entirely on the community team. While the community team handled a game they knew fans didn’t like, they had to take all the heat for it. “When asked whose decision it was to launch on Steam with no additional help: Bobby” tweeted Andy. ”This is only one example of the culture Kotick bred at AB: shit flowed downstream, usually landing on the lowest paid and most overworked individuals.”

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. We begged for more information, more details, and more resources to help us with the anticipated influx, all flatly denied. https://t.co/bALYcb0lg0

— Andy Belford (@andybelford) December 29, 2023

Andy Belford was one of many employees at Activision Blizzard with concerns like these. Here’s hoping that the new leadership at Activision Blizzard can make a more positive workspace for their workers. Perhaps Microsoft can breathe some positivity in a post Bobby Kotick workplace.