Now that Bobby Kotick is no longer the CEO of Activision Blizzard, a former Call of Duty (CoD) programmer has spoken out about how the controversial figure negatively impacted the franchise’s development.
Writing in a lengthy thread on X (formerly Twitter), as spotted by Eurogamer, Christina Pollock openly criticized the leadership of Bobby Kotick, noting that she actively called for his termination while she was employed by Activision Blizzard: “I worked on CoD for two years as a programmer at Demonware,” she wrote. “Bobby’s decisions made our games worse. In my first month, it came out he threatened to have an employee killed. In the all-hands that followed, no one wanted to speak first. So I demanded his firing in front of everyone.”
While Kotick remained in charge following this incident, the aftermath was widely documented when the State of California filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for sexual harassment and workplace misconduct. Kotick was one of the alleged perpetrators of many of the issues plaguing the company.
Related: Activision Blizzard Reveals Timeline for Titles on Xbox Game Pass
Pollock continued the thread by requesting that employees in positions of power call out abuse of power when they see such incidents occur. “Ask the loud annoying question in the all-hands, make it short, direct, to the point, and leave no room for waffling in response,” Pollock wrote. “Make it sharp, direct, and do it with clarity and without anger so they can’t attack your delivery. They won’t answer, but everyone will see it.”
Kotick officially stepped down as the CEO of Activision Blizzard at the end of 2023 following Microsoft’s acquisition of the company. According to reports, his position will not be filled as Activision Blizzard executives will now report directly to Matt Booty, Microsoft’s President of Game Content and Studios.
