All articles tagged with #activision blizzard
Former Bethesda VP Pete Hines, after 24 years at the studio, says Microsoft’s ownership has made Bethesda feel inauthentic and that he was powerless to run the place properly, a critique he voiced after his retirement and amid Starfield delays, Redfall fallout, and Bethesda’s shifting multiplatform strategy discussed during the FTC/Activision Blizzard case.
Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan says Blizzard’s profit-first push, including an overhyped Overwatch League and CFO-driven revenue demands, pulled his team away from new content and toward esports monetization, contributing to his 2021 resignation. He describes the league as a “house of cards” that never delivered, and notes it folded in 2023, leaving him emotionally broken and urging developers to value themselves instead of handing the company’s ‘golden goose’ to people who don’t deserve it.
Chance Glasco, a co-founder of Infinity Ward, claims Activision pressured the studio to make a Call of Duty game depicting Iran invading Israel, viewing it as political propaganda; he and other developers reportedly resisted, arguing that the series’ early missions already highlighted war’s ugliness and were not intended as propaganda.
Microsoft’s Xbox strategy under Phil Spencer—massive investments in Game Pass, cloud gaming, and acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard—has been accompanied by layoffs, studio closures, and muddled branding. With Spencer retiring and a leadership reshuffle (Asha Sharma to lead, Sarah Bond leaving), the future direction remains murky: is Xbox a console, a platform across devices, or something else entirely?
Britain’s ASA has banned Activision Blizzard UK’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 advert for trivialising sexual violence, citing a spoof airport security scene in which a male passenger is humiliated. Activision argued the 18-rated ad used a comedic, implausible tone and was restricted in timing, but the ASA upheld the complaints and barred the ad from running in its current form; two drug-use complaints were not upheld.
Activision Blizzard will shut down Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile on April 17, 2026, saying the mobile version did not meet its expectations for mobile‑first players; the game has not received new content since its app store removal in May 2025, guest accounts will no longer work, and players with unspent CoD points should spend them before the shutdown, while some unlockables can transfer to other Warzone titles and Activision accounts can still access other platforms.
Bobby Kotick argues that a reported 60% year-over-year drop in Call of Duty sales justifies Microsoft’s $69 billion Activision Blizzard takeover, suggesting the deal would have been less valuable otherwise; critics question the figure’s reliability and note ongoing scrutiny around the merger.
Ex-Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, defending the Microsoft deal in an investor-led lawsuit, says Call of Duty’s latest entry, Black Ops 7, is down more than 60% from last year, blaming weak console sales and competition from Battlefield; the claim highlights concerns about the franchise’s performance as GTA 6 looms, amid ongoing scrutiny of Activision’s sale.
Bobby Kotick says the 2022 AP7 lawsuit opposing Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard was a collateral attack tied to Embracer’s desire to boost its own game sales; Activision Blizzard and Kotick subsequently filed a counterclaim against Embracer. Embracer denies coordination with AP7. AP7 argued stock declines followed sexual-misconduct coverage; Kotick countered by alleging fake union-busting complaints by the CWA and noted Activision Blizzard’s 2021 EEOC settlement and victims’ fund.
Workers from Blizzard's Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble teams have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, joining over 1900 other Activision Blizzard employees, with Microsoft reportedly recognizing the union, as part of a broader movement for workers' collective voice and solidarity in the industry.
Over 400 employees in Blizzard's Platform & Technology division voted to unionize under the CWA, joining other Blizzard divisions and reflecting a broader movement within the gaming industry to improve workplace standards and address issues like low pay and redundancies. Microsoft has recognized the union, and this development is part of ongoing efforts to change industry perceptions of game developers as disposable workers.
Workers at Blizzard's Battle.net platform have unionized under the CWA, forming two new unions for tech and support staff, just before the expiration of a neutrality agreement with Microsoft that facilitated union efforts during its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The unions aim to negotiate better policies on layoffs, return-to-office, and workplace treatment, with some unions having already ratified contracts. The future of unionization without the neutrality agreement remains uncertain.
The former FTC chair Lina Khan criticizes Microsoft's recent 50% price increase for Xbox Game Pass, linking it to the company's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and market consolidation concerns, despite the FTC dropping its case against Microsoft earlier this year.
Many Xbox fans are frustrated with the slow rollout of Activision, Bethesda, and Microsoft games on Xbox Game Pass, despite Microsoft's promises to bring the full Activision Blizzard library to the service. While some titles have been added, a large portion of the extensive back catalog remains unavailable due to legal, licensing, and strategic reasons, including concerns over cannibalization of sales and engagement. Microsoft appears cautious about flooding the platform with older titles to protect third-party developer interests and manage platform growth, which has been relatively stagnant.
Activision Blizzard's recently unionized SFD team, along with other departments, seeks better pay, AI regulation, layoff protections, and transparency amid industry instability and layoffs following Microsoft's acquisition. The unionization effort aims to secure stability, protect creative work, and improve working conditions in a rapidly changing industry, reflecting a broader trend of increased union activity driven by layoffs and industry frustrations.