Overwatch 2 Executive Producer Leaves Blizzard
Blizzard Entertainment's Chacko Sonny, the executive producer for Overwatch 2 and the Overwatch franchise overall, is leaving the company. News of Sonny's departure was shared this week on Tuesday with Activision Blizzard confirming that Sonny was indeed leaving the role and the company. Sonny has not yet explained publicly why he's left Activision Blizzard, but he's far from the first person who's left Activision Blizzard lately. Activision Blizzard is notably in the middle of a controversy involving a lawsuit, investigations, and claims of inappropriate conduct including but not limited to harassment and discrimination.
Sonny's departure from Activision Blizzard was first reported on by Bloomberg with sources familiar with the matter cited in the report. An Activision Blizzard spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the information was accurate and that Sonny was indeed leaving. Sonny is said to have penned a note to colleagues calling his time at Blizzard "an absolute privilege," but it was again not stated why he was leaving. There was also no reference made to the ongoing lawsuit levied against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing nor were any other accessory investigations mentioned.
Sonny is the latest high-level developer to leave both Activision Blizzard and the Overwatch franchise, specifically. His leave follows the departure of Jeff Kaplan, the former game director working on Overwatch who was always seen in the developer update videos that gave insights into what would happen next in the game. Blizzard confirmed Kaplan's departure back in April and said that Aaron Keller, "a Blizzard veteran and founding member of the Overwatch team," would be taking over as the new game director. It has not yet been announced who will be taking over Sonny's role.
Aside from Kaplan and now Sonny, numerous Activision Blizzard employees have similarly left the company in the past few weeks following the public developments of the lawsuit and investigations. J. Allen Brack, the former president of Blizzard, left the company, and Diablo 4 also lost its director, Luis Barriga. Since those departures were announced, changes have been promised in games like Overwatch, Overwatch 2, and more to remove references to people who were said to be involved in the allegations directed at Activision Blizzard.
Overwatch 2 does not yet have a release date, but we know it's not coming out this year.