Aside from receiving two nominations for Call of Duty, the publisher has only been heard about for its scandals lately will not be represented at the upcoming The Game Awards event this week.

We’re days away from The Game Awards 2021, which could also be considered the year-end event. Event organizer Geoff Keighley confirmed on Twitter that beyond the nominations, the company, still headed by Bobby Kotick, will have nothing to do with the show: “[The Game Awards is] a time of celebration for this industry, the most effective form of entertainment in the world.

There is no place for abuse, harassment or predatory practices in any company or community. I also realize we have a big platform to accelerate and inspire change. We are committed to that, but we all need to work together to build a better and a more inclusive environment, so everyone feels safe to make the world’s best games,” Keighley wrote.

Before his announcement, he also was interviewed by The Washington Post and the press outlet directly asked about the role the scandal-plagued publisher will play in The Game Awards. “We want to support employees and developers. We have to think very carefully about how to proceed here,” Keighley said. With six big announcements promised, we can be sure that two of Activision Blizzard’s already announced and long-awaited games, Diablo IV and Overwatch 2, will not be on show at the event. We also reported earlier that BlizzCon was cancelled due to seemingly unstoppable scandals.

We’ll mention that Call of Duty is one of the best eSports game nominees, and Call of Duty: Warzone is one of the nominees for the best ongoing support game. The publisher will probably win just one as a consolation prize of sorts. It wouldn’t be that big a surprise… especially how Rob Kostich, Activision’s president, is part of The Game Awards’ board, which did not play a role in setting up the nominee list.

Source: PCGamer