If the head of PlayStation and Xbox are already expressing their displeasure (and the former is a bosom friend of Activision Blizzard…), then it is no coincidence that more than 1300 of the company’s employees or contract workers are calling for Bobby Kotick’s departure…

The Activision Blizzard scandal kicked into a higher gear when Bobby Kotick, the company’s CEO, was accused in a Wall Street Journal article of failing to treat his female employees properly and backing the harassers. Meanwhile, what was Bobby Kotick doing? He remained silent as if nothing had happened to him in the past week or so, which is shameful.

The Acti-Blizz board of directors wrote in a joint statement, claiming it “remains confident that Bobby Kotick appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention.” It’s surprising, as Bobby Kotick has also been accused of withholding relevant information from the board regarding an employee’s sexual harassment. In other words, they don’t care as long as they can line their pockets. The Game Developer expanded on this by saying that the board defended Kotick in an internal call: he is not subject to zero tolerance because they have no evidence to support the allegations made by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), all of which happened a long time ago.

But two of the three console manufacturers’ bosses, Jim Ryan and Phil Spencer (as Nintendo is frankly not a primary target for Acti-Blizz…), are backing away from the company. Bloomberg reports that in an internal email, Ryan was “disheartened and frankly stunned” by the handling of events surrounding the publisher. “We outreached to Activision immediately after the article was published to express our deep concern and to ask how they plan to address the claims made in the article. We do not believe their statements of response properly address the situation,” the email reads.

But Spencer’s reaction is also quite critical: again, Bloomberg has published details of the Xbox CEO’s internally sent email. Bobby Kotick himself had toxic behaviour and had known about problems within the company for years, threatening to kill an assistant and refusing to fire Dan Bunting, Treyarch’s co-head, after being accused of sexual harassment. Spencer wrote that the Xbox team was “disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions” and that they are “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments. This type of behaviour has no place in our industry.”

Spencer has since confirmed to IGN that the Bloomberg article is credible. While he did not provide details of Microsoft’s actions, he said, “I have strong values for a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of our employees at Xbox. This is not a destination but a journey that we will always be on. The leadership at Xbox and Microsoft stand by our teams and support them in building a safer environment for all.”

And here’s Activision’s PR statement: “We respect all feedback from our valued partners and are engaging with them further. We have detailed important changes we have implemented in recent weeks, and we will continue to do so. We are committed to the work of ensuring our culture and workplace are safe, diverse, and inclusive. We know it will take time, but we will not stop until we have the best workplace for our team.”

Several shareholders, led by minority owner SOC Investment Group, have already called for Kotick’s removal. But they’re not alone: the ABK Workers Alliance, a union initiative within the publisher, shared a document on Twitter calling for Kotick’s removal, and more than 1,300 workers and contractors have already signed their petition. “We, the undersigned, no longer have confidence in the leadership of Bobby Kotick as the CEO of Activision Blizzard. The information that has come to light about his behaviours and practices in the running of our companies runs counter to the culture and integrity we require of our leadership–and directly conflicts with the initiatives started by our peers,” the petition reads.

However, Ryan may have already issued an order. Call of Duty: Vanguard, Acti-Blizz’s cash-cow released two weeks ago, is no longer on the PlayStation Store’s featured games list, according to an image shared on Twitter. And here’s what we’ve been saying: Sony has had an advantage over Call of Duty for a console generation (pre-release betas, timed exclusives for DLCs…). And this is a move that could very well be the PlayStation boss’ move. (Images below: before, after.)

And this case will keep rolling along… and the best part is that Jen Oneal, Blizzard’s former ex-co-boss, got less pay than his male counterpart…

Source: WCCFTech, Gamesindustry, Gamesindustry, PSU