For a week, we had not heard that of the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft but this is news much more video game focused which should arrive in the week from the company. Would we finally have movement on the side of Diablo 4 and D’Overwatch 2?
It is througha long statement than Blizzard confides in its situation since the takeover of the Activision Blizzard group by Microsoft. However, the company has retained Bobby Kotick in his post, which created a lot of controversy. On this subject, the new president of the group, Mike “Qwik” Ybarra, says he is “encouraged” by what he has seen on many forums, emails and posts. Many people whether they are from Blizzard or not, stand up for what is right and advise them, which reinforces his desire for change within Blizzard for this year 2022.
Ybarra also gives the details of the first actions that will be undertaken. Among these is one concerning the confidence of the leaders currently in office, with objectives more focused on corporate culture. According to him, “executive success and compensation will directly depend on our overall success in creating a safe, inclusive and creative work environment at Blizzard“. Another proof that Microsoft tries to reframe the company, after Lthe many cases of sexual assault she has experienced.
An action aimed at inclusion and improvement of corporate culture will also be implemented. The teams asked changes of this kind for months and made numerous accusations and will be rewarded with the creation of new management positions. There is a corporate culture manager position, a new HRD position and an inclusion and diversity manager. Ybarra had already been recruited at the same time as Jen Oneal in order to increase diversity within the company, but she had resigned for an allegedly unequal pay issue a few months later.
These actions are just the beginning of the work ahead of Blizzard. I am motivated and enthusiastic about working directly to create the best possible environment for our teams, to enable them to bring their visions to life.
We also know that we need to deliver content to our players on a more regular basis and innovate both in our existing games and beyond. We have some exciting things to announce, and I’ll tell you more next week.
We therefore now expect movement on the side video games at Blizzard, who should communicate about it in the weeke. It is mainly on the side from Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 that fans are waiting for the most information, following undated reports for the moment. Maybe we’ll also see some news about BlizzCon, whose 2022 edition has been canceled.