Activision CEO didn’t tell board of rape allegations, new WSJ report says

A Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday said that, despite what he told Activision Blizzard’s board of directors, chief executive Bobby Kotick did know of allegations of employee sexual misconduct throughout the company, including a rape allegation one former Sledgehammer Games employee made against a co-worker.

Kotick, says the Journal, cut his own salary and promised zero-tolerance changes to Activision’s harassment policy after the newspaper asked questions regarding the Sledgehammer rape allegation last month. Tuesday’s report depicts Kotick, Activision’s boss for the past 25 years, as minimizing the problem to his board, if not outright hiding his full knowledge of it from them.

The Journal’s report also mentions an incident at Treyarch, in which the Call of Duty studio’s co-lead was accused of sexual harassment, and that Kotick intervened to limit disciplinary measures meted out against the accused employee, Dan Bunting.

Activision responded to the Journal with a written statement saying Kotick could not “reasonably be expected to have been updated on all personnel issues.” A statement from Activision’s board said Kotick had kept them “informed at all times with respect to the status of regulatory matters,” and denied that Kotick minimized the scope of the problem or said it was limited to Blizzard Entertainment’s workplace environment.

But the Journal’s lengthy report, documented with internal memos and emails, at least casts Kotick’s response, since Activision was sued by California regulators in July, as negligent and focused on damage control, rather than acknowledging or cleaning up a toxic workplace culture. After news of the allegations broke, Activision was hit with a shareholder lawsuit alleging that Kotick’s negligent management, as well as several allegedly false statements to investors that omitted mention of the sex harassment charges, tanked the company’s share price.

Activision’s problem with Sledgehammer Gaming is also expanded by the allegation about Sledgehammer, which was previously thought to have been contained to Blizzard Entertainment (the makers of Overwatch, Diablo and Warcraft franchises). Sledgehammer Games, a Call of Duty studio was developed Vanguard, Call of DutyTwo weeks ago, a new website was created called.

The Journal reports that Kotick was sent an email by a lawyer representing the ex-Sledgehammer employee, alleging that Kotick had been subject to rapes in 2016 and 2017. After taking that accusation to Sledgehammer’s human resources officers, nothing happened, leading to the email to Kotick and the threat of a lawsuit. Activision settled the matter quickly, according to the Journal. Kotick, however, did not inform the board of directors of the alleged rapes.

Kotick, the Journal said, also drafted the notorious email sent out by Fran Townsend, the company’s chief compliance officer, which resulted in an employee walkout at Blizzard. Activision employees singled out Townsend for an “abhorrent and insulting” response in the crisis’ earliest days, and Kotick later apologized for the company’s tone, without saying he was directly responsible for the memo.

Townsend “should not be blamed for this mistake,” an Activision spokeswoman told the Journal. Nonetheless, she was excoriated in news reports about the memo, deleted her Twitter presence in the social media aftermath of that, and left her position as executive sponsor of the company’s internal women’s network. Activision has her back, though she’s one of the very few female executives at its top.

Polygon reached out to Activision for additional comment, and in a statement, the company called The Wall Street Journal’s report “a misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO.

“Instances of sexual misconduct that were brought to his attention were acted upon,” the statement said. “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 remainder of Activision’s statement to Polygon says:

This company has been distinguished by its constant quest to improve. Which is why, at Mr. Kotick’s direction, we have made significant improvements, including a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate conduct. We are focusing on the future with speed and determination to increase diversity within our industry and company, as well as to make sure that employees feel valued, safe and respected at work. We are determined to create the most productive workplace possible for all of our employees.