Of course he had power prior to this. This is an opportunity for him to exert more influence over the two new "co-leaders" than he did previously.
With what's been reported, I don't see much room for it to become worse.
Maybe. Or just a different kinda' bad. Or just a boring kinda' bad. Either way, still got Bush and Trump dudes and dudettes in the building.
They already were, this really isn't anything new other than different names that report to Kotick.
As much as we like to hate on Activision, almost all of the information that we've heard of indicates this sort of culture was highly concentrated in Blizzard and existed long before Activision ever took over as parent company. Blizzard is the problem here.
??? No one is defending Activision or saying they aren't reprehensible. A lot of the stories have come exclusively from Blizzard and people named in the lawsuit are from Blizzard who were there prior to the acquisition. This is not letting Activision off the hook, this is pointing out that they didn't create this problem. This was a problem in Blizzard long before and we can't blame it on a company that we all like to hate.
He literally got promoted almost right when the investigation started. He was likely ALWAYS a scapegoat
Plenty of the reports involve the Activision side of things. Just because Blizzard was doing this prior to their acquisition, doesn't mean Activision wasn't behaving the same way too.
So, people get assaulted and you're... concerned about Activision using this to take over Blizzard? Why is the outcome of Blizzard as a company even a concern right now?
I understand this. But my point is that people try to act like Blizzard was so great before Activision came along so they can pretend there was a time when these products weren't tainted when reports indicate that is not true. Both companies have shitty and toxic culture and I guess they were made for each other. Maybe it was the perfect acquisition after all.
Yes, that's a great way of putting it.
I think Schreier insinuated that this move will make it easier for Kotick to consolidate control of Blizzard, accelerating the process that's been going on over the last few years. Having two people be vague co-leaders probably strips them of some amount of decision making power. It's uncharitable speculation, but nothing that's happened with this company over the past few years could give you reason doubt that the lack of what little power a President of Blizzard has isn't being capitalized on by Activision.
Bringing up how Activision is a bad operator who has been planning this for years puts a victim narrative spin on Blizzard that certain parts of the gaming community (perhaps not you) will absolutely run with because Blizzard is the one with the loyalty and emotional connection to fans. There are a lot of people who want everything to be Activision's problem and that Blizzard simply absorbed their culture, despite evidence to the contrary, and will run with reasons to be concerned for Blizzard. I'm sure you agree that Blizzard is not a victim (I don't even think you can reduce them to scapegoat with the amount of accusations), and you're not wrong that Activision is also a bad actor. I just don't think the narrative as detailed above is the way to approach what is happening. Activision is a bad actor, not because they want to take over Blizzard, but because their policies mean that even if they do, there will likely be no improvement to the culture that created this because Activision has their own problems with sexism and harassment. If that was your intent, then we agree, but it was hard for me to understand because your posts seemed very focused on the fate of Blizzard as an entity.
Kotick always had control over Blizzard. He's not going to suddenly micromanage these two Blizzard leaders. That doesn't make much sense.
On the one hand: Yes
Probably because they have co-leads at their other companies such as Treyarch they probably have data that it works for them.
If Acti can get Blizzard into shape, get rid of their horrible culture, make decent games, and ship products on time I won't complain. The "old guard" has been fucking up things for a longtime. They had their shot.
While it would be good if Kotick left for good, I just don't see how that could happen.
In no world will Bobby stand up and leave. Forcing him out some way would require things to go even more south than they have. Especially financially.
