Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has come under fire for the umpteenth time for making tone deaf comments about misconduct and harassment at the company. Kotick, who’s previously been accused of misconduct himself, blamed the media and “an aggressive labor movement” for the reports — all of which were corroborated by multiple employees, leading to lawsuits and settlements.
Activision Blizzard substantiated numerous employee harassment reports last year
Kotick made his comments in an interview with Variety, during which he bizarrely claimed that Activision Blizzard has “no systemic issue with harassment.” Yet, as spotted by Axios, Activision Blizzard’s own transparency report published on Wednesday found that the company substantiated over two dozen misconduct complaints filed by employees in 2022.
Kotick also took aim at unions, and blamed Activision Blizzard’s PR and image woes on “outside forces.”
Response to Kotick’s comments from within the gaming circles was swift. Many expressed disgust and disbelief. Others pointed out that the interview was published at the time of Diablo 4‘s launch, which will be available via early access today, overshadowing the hard work put in by developers
Variety also faced some of the backlash for publishing the interview without due diligence. The website has not responded to complaints.
