Now that Microsoft has completed its purchase of Activision Blizzard, the long-time CEO of the game publisher, Bobby Kotick, has announced he will depart the company sometime before the end of 2023.
In a post on Activision Blizzard"s news page, Kotick stated that Microsoft"s Xbox head Phil Spencer has asked him to stay on as CEO for the rest of the year, while reporting to him, saying, "We both look forward to working together on a smooth integration for our teams and players."
After he and his business partner Brian Kelly bought a percentage of Activision stock in 1990, Kotick was named as its CEO in 1991. Since then, he has helped to grow the game publisher into one of the biggest in the industry. He was in charge of Activision when it launched a number of well-known game franchises like Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero, and of course the Call of Duty series, which has become one of the biggest in the video game industry.
In 2008, Kotick was in charge when Activision merged with Vivendi, which included Blizzard Entertainment. The newly merged company was renamed as Activision Blizzard, which gave the publisher even more iconic gaming brands, including the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises. In 2016, the company expanded once again with the purchase of the mobile game developer and publisher King, adding titles like the Candy Crush games to its lineup.
Now, all of those game developers and franchises belong to Microsoft in its biggest acquisition in the company"s history. In his email to the company employees today, Kotick stated:
Today marks a milestone in our company’s celebrated history. Combining with Microsoft will bring new resources and new opportunities to our extraordinary teams worldwide. It will also enable us to deliver more fun, more joy, and more connection to more players than ever before. This moment is possible because of your efforts over four decades to innovate, inspire, and achieve.
There"s no word on what Kotick will do after his eventual departure from Activision Blizzard.