Bobby Kotick may not be going anywhere



The controversial head of Activision has accused Sony of ‘trying to sabotage’ Microsoft’s plans to buy the company.



Depending on who you talk to, the recent UK report that came out against Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard is either a sign that the deal is definitely going through… or it definitely isn’t. We’ll take that to mean that nobody knows for sure, but for the first time there’s been talk of what will happen if the status quo is maintained.



According to US business sources Bobby Kotick will remain as SEO of Activision Blizzard if the deal breaks down, despite previous reports suggesting he’d exit either way.



Kotick has been accused by many, including Activision Blizzard staff , of allowing the company’s toxic workplace conditions to fester. He’s had to stay on till now, to get the deal done, but the implication has aways been that he wouldn’t remain after (don’t feel bad for him, he stands to make hundreds of millions from the deal).



As CEO, Kotick has been accused of not only knowing about workplace conditions at Activision Blizzard, but of keeping the details of them from the rest of the executive board – as well as participating in bullying himself.



Multiple games companies, including Microsoft, publicly berated Activision Blizzard after the details first emerged and yet it later transpired that Xbox boss Phil Spencer was on the phone to Kotick the very next day , to try and buy the company.



Although he’s been instrumental in organising the planned acquisition, Bobby Kotick has been unpopular with gamers for years and so is seen as something of an embarrassment for Microsoft.







He certainly seems upset now, at the thought that the deal might not go through, telling the Financial Times that, ‘I think this is all Sony just trying to sabotage the transaction.’



That’s not much of a revelation – it’s very clear that Sony doesn’t want the deal to go ahead – but Kotick claims that in recent weeks they’ve stopped talking to him and Microsoft, although Sony denies this.



According to Fox Business , Kotick will ‘absolutely remain at the gaming giant to run the company’ if the deal doesn’t go through, which is going to be awkward for both parties as they currently have an exclusive marketing deal for Call Of Duty.



Kotick stands make millions from the acquisition (pic: Activison)



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