Kotick’s Legal Team Apologizes After Failing to Read Full Article Before Issuing Threat

Key points

• On January 20, 2026, the law firm Clare Locke emailed Totilo a four-page letter demanding he 'correct' a Game File article about a Swedish pension fund lawsuit against Microsoft.
• The letter threatened potential 'actual malice' claims if Totilo did not add a specific paragraph from a 2023 California Civil Rights Department settlement, which stated that no court had substantiated claims of widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard.
• Totilo responded by pointing out that the exact language demanded by the lawyers was already included in his article to ensure fairness and balance.
• Clare Locke replied two hours later, apologizing for the confusion and admitting they had reviewed an 'incomplete version' of the article, likely failing to read past the paywall.
• The firm marked the initial letter 'confidential,' but Totilo rejected this designation, stating he had not agreed to off-the-record terms and would not be bound by unilateral confidentiality demands.
• Totilo delayed publishing this account until September 2026 to avoid interfering with a related investigation by journalist Mikhail Klimentov, which was eventually published by People Make Games.

Background

This incident is part of a wider strategy by Bobby Kotick’s legal team to shape press coverage regarding the 2021 workplace misconduct scandals at Activision Blizzard. Previous reporting by Mikhail Klimentov indicated that several media outlets had altered or deleted stories at the request of Kotick’s counsel. The 2022 lawsuit by Swedish pension fund AP7, which alleged the Microsoft acquisition was rushed to avoid scandal consequences, was settled in May 2026 for $250 million, with the fund’s lawyers adopting the same settlement language Kotick’s team had pushed for in media corrections.

Why it matters

The incident underscores the challenges faced by independent journalists in the video game industry when dealing with powerful corporate entities. It demonstrates how legal threats can be used to pressure media, even when the demanded changes are already present, and highlights the importance of transparency in reporting such interactions. The apology from Clare Locke serves as a rare admission of error in a high-stakes media-legal dispute, offering a case study in the dynamics between corporate PR and independent journalism.

What to watch

No immediate further legal action is expected from Clare Locke regarding this specific incident, as the matter was resolved with an apology. However, the broader pattern of Kotick’s legal team influencing media coverage remains a topic of interest for journalists and industry observers. The settlement of the AP7 lawsuit in May 2026 may have reduced the urgency of such legal demands, but the precedent set by this interaction could influence future interactions between Kotick’s representatives and the press.