The time will come in two days. The next step in the acquisition of Activision Blizzard is here. Slowly but surely we see Microsoft entering the company.
Because on December 29, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will officially step down. Microsoft has not yet named a direct replacement. Instead, a group of executives (including Blizzard president Mike Ybarra and Activision publisher and Activision Blizzard vice chairman Thomas Tippl) led by Microsoft’s game president Matt Booty will take over temporarily. keep an eye on it.
Kotick’s departure comes just two months after a series of changes in the guard that saw Sarah Bond promoted to Xbox president and Matt Booty promoted to game boss including overseeing Bethesda and ZeniMax studios. Now Booty will take on even more responsibilities with Bethesda, Activision Blizzard and Xbox Game Studios all under his supervision.
Microsoft is keeping Activision Blizzard’s leadership team largely the same, with some exceptions at the executive level. Activision Blizzard Chief Communications Officer Lulu Meservey will leave the company at the end of January. Humam Sakhnini (Vice Chairman of Blizzard and King) will also leave at the end of December. A number of Activision Blizzard executives will also be leaving in March.
Additionally, a memo from Matt Booty announced some of the changes at ZeniMax and Bethesda, including that Jill Braff (photo) as the new head of those studios has been named. Braff worked on the integration team when ZeniMax and Bethesda joined Xbox in 2021 and will lead the studios’ development teams.
Microsoft continues to integrate Activision Blizzard into its extensive Microsoft Gaming business and it’s clear that Matt Booty is now taking on more responsibility than ever before. Xbox fans are now waiting for plans to add Activision Blizzard games to Xbox Game Pass. Spencer previously indicated that we would have to wait until 2024 for news about these game additions. Activision Blizzard also revealed at X, prior to the closing of the Microsoft deal, that Modern Warfare III in Diablo IV both will be added to the pass that year.
It’s awesome to see anticipation building for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III. As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we’ve been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass.
While we…
— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) October 9, 2023
2023-12-27 21:46:09
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