“Bobby [Kotick]’s decisions have made our game worse,” the former Call of Duty programmer said on social media the same day Kotick ended his final day as CEO of Activision Blizzard.
“What I worked on was [Call of Duty] I worked as a programmer at Demonware for two years. “Bobby’s decisions made our game worse,” said Christina Pollock. “In the first month, it turned out that he threatened to kill his employees. [all staff meeting] After that, no one wanted to speak first. So I demanded his dismissal in front of everyone. ”
In a candid thread on Twitter/X, Pollock said: “I understand that I am a very loud and very annoying person, but seniority and ease of other opportunities make me do things like that. I understand that it provides a level of protection and safety when
“But you all have to get on this train. We all have to rise up against people like this every time,” they added.
I worked on COD for 2 years as a programmer at Demonware
Bobby’s decision made our game worse.
It turned out that in the first month he threatened to kill an employee. At the subsequent all-hands meeting, no one wanted to speak first.So I demanded that he be fired in front of everyone. https://t.co/yhlM5xqPPg
— Christina Grim Reaper (@chhopsky) December 29, 2023
Manage cookie settings
“If I had been made redundant, several other companies would have stood back, but that’s why senior staff need to put in the effort. Young people feel comfortable doing it until leaders do it first. We may not be able to do it. We may not be able to do it.” There are unions, but together we are stronger.
“Ask loud, annoying questions as a group and keep them short, direct, and to the point, leaving no room for confusion in your responses. Ask questions sharply, directly, and without anger. Please ask clearly and we will attack the delivery.
“They won’t answer, but everyone will see it.”
Pollock acknowledged that “demonware is protected” [them]”, but acknowledged that other studios may not do so, stating: “Write down what you said. Take notes in case HR contacts you. If possible, record what you said during the meeting so you have evidence of exactly what happened.” Leave it alone, because weak-minded executives will take exposed failures personally.”
“If seniors do not speak up when juniors cannot, valuable juniors will disappear in an instant.” Confirmed another developer. “This kind of management destroys a company’s future workforce.”
Pollock isn’t the only developer to openly talk about Kotick’s impact on his organization.as discovered by PCGNcommunity manager Andy Belford also spoke about how Kotick’s decision-making affected morale.
“I want to break the silence and share a fun fact: When we were planning the Steam launch of Overwatch 2, my team warned us (months ago) that we would be review-bombed. “We begged for more information, details, and resources to help us, and all anticipated influxes were flatly denied,” Belford said.
Despite refusing to expose members of my team to that level of harmful content/posts, steam management was placed on the community team (not the role of Blizz’s community). When asked whose decision it was to release on Steam without additional support, Bobby:
— Andy Belford (he/him) 💙 (@andybelford) December 29, 2023
Manage cookie settings
“Despite my refusal to expose members of my team to that level of harmful content/posting, moderation on Steam was left to the Community Team (which is not a function of Blizzard’s Communities). I asked whose decision it was to release , and I don’t need any additional help: Bobby.
“This is just one example of the culture that Kotick fostered at AB. Shit flows downstream, usually ending up in the lowest-paid and most overworked individuals. Management is swinging wildly in direction and meaning. I was too busy dealing with unknown decisions.”
“At the end of the day, player experience or employees meant nothing to CSuite or executive leadership. It was all about reporting that quarter,” Belford added.
Microsoft announced its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022 after the company was thrown into turmoil by reports of employee misconduct and subsequent demands for Kotick to leave. Now, more than two years later, Activision Blizzard is starting the new year under completely new management.