Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Activision Blizzard, there’s a brand-new allegation involving their CEO Bobby Kotick and it deserves a content warning right here since it talks about alleged rape, death threats, and other unsavoury things at the company.

Up Against the Wall Street

The Wall Street Journal brought this to light, and if you’re defending corporations, and their practices (see the recent cluster that’s the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition) – you need to understand that they don’t like you, they only like your money and they’ll Nickle & Dime you for every cent you own if they think they can get away with it.

We’re going to link to this article from WSJ here.

The Allegations

If you don’t want to sub to read it, you can get a good account of what’s going on here.

As well as archived here.

On November 16^th this tweet went live from ABetterABK, the Workers Alliance of Activision Blizzard King.

“We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy. We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source. We are staging a Walkout today. We welcome you to join us.”

It was in response to the WSJ reporting in a tweet that, “Activision CEO Bobby Kotick told an employee he would have her killed. He kept an exec from being fired after a sexual harassment claim. He didn’t tell his board of alleged rapes and other misconduct.” And the rest of the investigative article that followed.

Wall Street Journal points out, in their investigation several comments from the close-knit board of the company regarding Bobby Kotick and the company’s ‘progress’ toward a better working place for its employees, and Activision Blizzard issued this press release response.

“We are disappointed in the Wall Street Journal’s report, which presents a misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO,” reads the release. “Instances of sexual misconduct that were brought to his attention were acted upon. The WSJ ignores important changes underway to make this the industry’s most welcoming and inclusive workplace and it fails to account for the efforts of thousands of employees who work hard every day to live up to their – and our – values.

“The constant desire to be better has always set this company apart,” the Activision Blizzard statement continues. “Which is why, at Mr. Kotick’s direction, we have made significant improvements, including a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct. And it is why we are moving forward with unwavering focus, speed, and resources to continue increasing diversity across our company and industry and to ensure that every employee comes to work feeling valued, safe, respected, and inspired. We will not stop until we have the best workplace for our team.”

It appears in the wake of all this that the board at Activision has decided to support CEO Bobby Kotick. “The Activision Blizzard Board remains committed to the goal of making Activision Blizzard the most welcoming and inclusive company in the industry,” say the Board of Directors. “Under Bobby Kotick’s leadership the Company is already implementing industry leading changes including a zero tolerance harassment policy, a dedication to achieving significant increases to the percentages of women and non-binary people in our workforce and significant internal and external investments to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent. The Board remains confident that Bobby Kotick appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention.”

Furthermore, the statement adds. “The goals we have set for ourselves are both critical and ambitious. The Board remains confident in Bobby Kotick’s leadership, commitment and ability to achieve these goals.”