Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick Officially Stepping Down

Bobby Kotick, the longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard, is officially stepping down. Kotick indicated as much previously following the successful acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft when he suggested that he’d stick around as CEO until at least the end of 2023, and in a new memo shared with employees and later the public on Wednesday, he reaffirmed his plans to depart the company. Additional reports shared amid his own statement have suggested that Kotick’s last day will be on December 29th with other leadership shakeups taking place within Activision Blizzard as well.

Kotick’s plans to step down were stated before as previously mentioned, so this note shared this week is more of a farewell as opposed to an announcement. In the memo employees got that’s now available on Activision Blizzard’s newsroom site, Kotick thanked Activision Blizzard’s teams while looking ahead to his “last day leading this company.”

Bobby Kotick Steps Down from Activision Blizzard

“Forty years later, as my last day leading this company inches closer, I marvel at how far the talented people at our company have come toward realizing the great potential of games,” Kotick said. “You have transformed a hobbyist form of entertainment into the world’s most engaging medium. It has been the privilege of my lifetime to work alongside you as we broadened the appeal of games.”

Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, also got a shoutout from Kotick in the memo where the soon-to-be former Activision Blizzard CEO praised Spencer’s appreciation for Activision Blizzard and the future that’s ahead of both Kotick’s company and Microsoft, and by extension, the Xbox community, too.

“Phil Spencer has appreciated the magic of ABK for decades,” he said. “When he approached Brian and me two years ago and proposed acquiring the company, it was immediately obvious that the combination of our businesses would enable us to continue to lead as the list of capable, well-resourced competitors grows.”

Activision Blizzard Leadership

So, with Kotick out later this month, what happens for the rest of the Activision Blizzard heirarchy? Nothing about that was mentioned in Kotick’s note aside from the Activision Blizzard boss saying that the company’s teams “could not be in better hands,” but The Verge shared another memo sent out to employees by Spencer that divulged info about who’ll take on certain roles and who executives will report to. 

As for the big question of who’ll be the next Activision Blizzard CEO, that hasn’t yet been announced. Other top-level executives like Blizzard president Mike Ybarra (who used to work at Xbox) will report to Matt Booty, the president of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft.

“Thomas Tippl (Vice Chairman, Activision Blizzard), Rob Kostich (President, Activision Publishing), Mike Ybarra (President, Blizzard Entertainment) and Tjodolf Sommestad (President, King) will report to Matt Booty (President, Game Content and Studios),” the memo shared by The Verge said. “The leadership teams for Activision Publishing, Blizzard and King will remain in place, with no changes to the structure of how the studios and business units are run.”

Kotick’s decades with Activision Blizzard are expected to come to an end by December 29th, The Verge said.