Bobby Kotick: A new chapter for Activision Blizzard

CEO Bobby Kotick writes that combining with Microsoft will enable Activision Blizzard to deliver more fun, more joy, and more connection to more players.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sent the following email to employees:

Team,

Today marks a milestone in our company’s celebrated history.

Combining with Microsoft will bring new resources and new opportunities to our extraordinary teams worldwide. It will also enable us to deliver more fun, more joy, and more connection to more players than ever before.

This moment is possible because of your efforts over four decades to innovate, inspire, and achieve.

When Brian Kelly and I began this journey in 1991, we intended to build a company that would have great impact and lasting value. Your tireless work and unwavering commitment to excellence enabled us to do just that. In the 1980s, we pioneered independent, third-party game development with Pitfall, River Raid, and Kaboom. In the 1990s, we united the world with online multiplayer games like MechWarrior, Warcraft, and StarCraft. In the 2000s, we introduced Call of Duty, which became one of the most successful entertainment franchises in history. We also introduced Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, which entered popular culture in ways few videogames ever have. In the 2010s, we debuted Candy Crush Saga, which to date has been downloaded more than five billion times and contributed to our total worldwide players being fifty percent female.

Your dedication is what makes it possible for us to continually push envelopes, break records, and delight players. Amid the uncertainty of the last 21 months, you’ve remained focused, as always, on serving our players and supporting each other.

I have long said that I am fully committed to helping with the transition. Phil Spencer has asked me to stay on as CEO of ABK, reporting to him, and we have agreed that I will do that through the end of 2023. We both look forward to working together on a smooth integration for our teams and players.

Brian and I couldn’t be more excited for the next chapter for ABK. We now join one of the most successful global companies, poised for unprecedented opportunities to connect the world through our games. 

As a part of Microsoft, we will be even better, together.

Bobby Kotick

For more

• The final step in the UK for the Microsoft deal (Oct 12, 2023)

• The latest step in the UK for the Microsoft deal (Sep 21, 2023)

• The next step in the UK for the Microsoft deal (Aug 21, 2023)

• Deadline extended on the Microsoft deal (July 19, 2023)

• A federal court denied the FTC's request to block the Microsoft deal (July 11, 2023)

• We're ready to make our case for the Microsoft deal in federal court (June 12, 2023)

• Regulators in Europe approve the Microsoft deal (May 15, 2023)

• We’ll keep pressing our case for a Microsoft deal (April 26, 2023)

• A March update on the Microsoft deal (March 28, 2023)

• A February update on the Microsoft deal (February 8, 2023)

• A December update on the Microsoft deal (December 8, 2022)

• Defining the future: Announcing a merger with Microsoft (January 18, 2022)