The purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft has been, without a doubt, one of the most important news of the week. Said operation is on track and, unless it encounters an obstacle on the part of the competition regulatory authorities, it should be completed in 2023.
In this article we have already seen the possible implications that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft could have, and without a doubt one of the most important for users was the arrival of the company’s most relevant franchises to Game Pass, which would greatly improve its value, and the possibility of those franchises becoming exclusive to Microsoft.
We also saw what this purchase operation could mean for Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, who, as we know, was on the tightrope after being involved in the cases of sexual harassment that were uncovered within the company. According to various sources, Kotick himself not only was he aware of, and covered up for, those cases, but he was also able to commit some abuses. Until there is a final conviction, the presumption of innocence prevails, but the accusations are on the table, and they are serious.
According to a new report shared by Bloomberg, the CEO of Activision Blizzard was aware that, with the situation in which the company found itself after this enormous controversy, the best thing for it, and for himself, was to close a sale operation to a tech giant. This allowed an image whitewash by passing the command to another person in charge, and also opened the doors to a “golden retirement” for Kotick, who could pocket almost 300 million dollars after his departure from Activision Blizzard as a result of a “change of command”.
However, Kotick did not consider Microsoft as the first option. According to the news source, Kotick did not directly accept Microsoft’s offer, but instead looked at other options, and among them was Meta, the parent company of Facebook, but Mark Zuckerbeg clearly wasn’t interested. We all know the end of the story, Microsoft has been the one that has taken the cat to the water.
