Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has reportedly told senior managers at the company that he will consider stepping down from his position if he isn't able to quickly fix the ongoing problems at the publisher.
In a newly published report by the Wall Street Journal, sources familiar with Kotick have said that the Activision CEO made comments during a meeting with executives on Friday that left open the possibility of his departure if misconduct issues present within the company weren't fixed "with speed."
Increased pressure on Kotick comes after a prior report by the Wall Street Journal claimed that the CEO knew about alleged sexual assault and harassment allegations within the company, but refrained from disclosing the information to the company's board. The report itself centred around Kotick and said that internal documents and sources familiar with the publisher had shown that the CEO was aware of many of the reported cases of abuse within the company.
Kotick has since issued a public message following the publication of the Wall Street Journal's initial report calling it "inaccurate and misleading." Despite Kotick's comments, a number of people – including the ABK Workers Alliance, over 1,000 Activision Blizzard employees and various shareholders – have called for the CEO's resignation.
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.
— ABetterABK 💙 ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) November 16, 2021
In addition to increased pressure on Kotick and the publisher from its employees, a number of other notable industry names have spoken out about the ongoing issues at Activision Blizzard. Last week, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan criticized Activision's response to allegations from the original WSJ report. Ryan emailed PlayStation employees, saying that Sony's leadership were "disheartened and frankly stunned to read" that Activision "has not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment."
Similar sentiments were issued by Xbox Boss Phil Spencer, who told his team last week that the company was "evaluating all aspects of [its] relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments," following the latest reports surrounding the publisher.
Last week's reports from the Wall Street Journal provides a continuation of a long-running scandal within Activision Blizzard, which began earlier this year following a lawsuit filed against the company by the state of California. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.