Sony’s stellar appearance, precisely at this moment, can make a difference And, for anyone whose stomach turns after having knowledge of what happened in Activisión Blizzard according to the investigation and subsequent complaint by the state of California, this is excellent news, as it could mark the end of the balance, in the sense in which internal and external pressures and common sense, point more and more firmly.
As you will remember, yesterday we told you that part of the Activision Blizzard employees have decided to go on strike, demanding the departure of Bobby Kotick, current CEO of the company. The unpopular manager has been particularly targeted since the harassment and abuse within the company were revealed, and his situation became even more complicated when the company’s investors decided to sue its executives, Kotick among them.
So far, the CEO has been able to weather the storm, and has even had what some of us consider the audacity to lead the changes that the company needs… well, I save my opinion. But everything has been twisted by recent revelations of the e The Wall Street Journal, in which it is reported that Kotick not only knew what was happening, but also participated actively in the protection of those guilty of such despicable acts. .
Yesterday I was wondering if employee pressure would be enough to force Kotick out of Activision Blizzard, but today we know from Bloomberg that Sony would also have contributed its grain of sand (or a whole cube, given the weight that Sony has in Activision Blizzard accounts and its weight in the sector), in the criticism of the company’s management of toxicity in its work teams, as well as the response given by the company to the accusations.
And it is that today Jim Ryan, head of PlayStation at Sony, has sent all company employees an email in which he claims to be «disheartened and frankly astonished to read »that Activision« has not done enough to address a deeply ingrained culture of discrimination and harassment«. And yes, I know, this looks like a toast to the sun, but the message continues:
«We reached out to Activision immediately after the article was published to express our deep concern and ask how they plan to address the claims made in the article.«Wrote the Sony manager. «We do not believe that your response statements adequately address the situation«.
We are not talking about a threat, of course, Sony has not said anything about vetoing the PlayStation platform to the developments of Activision Blizzard, and this is understandable. Nevertheless, It is a serious wake-up call that adds to the flood of the same that the company has been receiving for some time now.. And in this case by Sony, a giant in the sector and, therefore, a company with a lot of influence.
For now, the board of directors maintains its support for Kotick, although the image crisis that the company is dragging has caused, only today Wednesday, that their securities on the stock market drop 2.5%. Something that will undoubtedly be making investors nervous, which in turn can translate into even more pressure for the CEO. A pressure that, however, seems little if we compare it with that experienced by the company employee who ended up committing suicide due to the sexual harassment to which she was subjected. Yes, I think Kotick should leave the company as soon as possible.
