Shifts in Activision Blizzard Presidents Result in New Executive Leaders

Activision Blizzard Continues to Shuffle Its Executive Staff Around

January 9, 2019

Activision Blizzard has had a number of shifts in leadership as of late, including the termination of CFO Spencer Neumann and the departure of Amrita Ahuja, CFO of Blizzard Entertainment. To add to that, a new president has been appointed to Activision, as well as King Digital Entertainment, the developers of Candy Crush and subsidiary of Activision Blizzard. The sudden shift in Activision Blizzard presidents is interesting, simply because of the rapid succession at which they’re occurring.

Rob Kostich, Vice President of Call of Duty was named president of Activision, while Humam Sakhnini was named president of King Digital Entertainment, after recently serving as CFO and CSO of the operating unit. Additionally, Dennis Durkin was named president of Activision Blizzard’s emerging businesses and CFO after the termination of Spencer Neumann for, “violating his legal obligations to the company”. Finally, J. Allen Brack continues his role as Blizzard Entertainment president.

Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard had this to say about the sudden departures of their executive leaders:

Rob, Humam, Dennis and J. exemplify our deep bench of operational and commercial leadership. These capable and seasoned executives have shown unwavering commitment to our company, our employees, and our beloved community of fans around the world. With these proven, principled leaders at the helm, we will continue to invest in the strategic growth drivers of our business; our talented people, and creating the world’s best video games, live services, mobile experiences, and new and growing franchise engagement models.

Based on the frequency of the departures of executive staff members, it really makes you wonder what exactly is going on at the company, because it doesn’t seem normal to have that many executive leaders departing so quickly. That coupled with their negative cost cutting practices, its EU customer support staff quitting due to monetary incentives, and the overall perception of the company after the announcement of the mobile game, Diablo Immortal, is worrisome.

Do you think the barrage of shifts in leadership roles at Activision Blizzard is cause for concern? Let us know in the comments!

[Source: Variety]