Activision Blizzard Update: J. Allen Brack Out

J. Allen Brack takes the golden parachute and makes his exit amid the major sexual harassment lawsuit that is currently ongoing.

It was announced earlier today that J. Allen Brack will be leaving Activision Blizzard amid the ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit and the negative media coverage that has garnered.

PC Gamer @pcgamer

J. Allen Brack has stepped down as Blizzard's president.

trib.alBlizzard’s president is out, studio to be co-led by a woman for first time in its historyJ. Allen Brack will be replaced by Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra as co-heads.

PC Gamer reports that the studio will be co-led by a women for the first time in it’s history now with the replacement of Brack by Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra serving a co-heads. Obviously this seems like a Public Relations thing and not really much of a substantive change.

Lots of PR speak throughout this announcement. Mike Flutter had a really interesting take which I think makes a lot of sense.

Mike Futter @Futterish

J Allen Brack out at Blizzard. Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra to lead Blizzard.

investor.activision.comActivision Blizzard | A Letter From President and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Alegre Regarding Blizzard EntertainmentThe Investor Relations website contains information about Activision Blizzard’s business for stockholders, potential investors, and financial analysts.

First he posted the link to the announcement from the Blizzard “investor relations” website which contains information for shareholders and investors. Then he followed that up with this series of tweets:

He is absolutely right, this is a scapegoating thing just like the company attempted to do with Alex Afraisabi. Remember it was Bobby Kotick that appeared in Jeffrey Epstein’s little black book.

Chris Morris @MorrisatLarge

For those wondering about the timing of this am's switch up at ATVI (J. Allen Brack is out. Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra take over), I'll just point out that the company's earnings announcement (and analyst call) is this afternoon...

I think this is a clear signal that the company is trying to save its profitability and get over this scandal as quickly as possible. It’s not really about changing the culture or doing a real investigation.

Here is a video from Ginger Prime explaining the latest news.

Jen is an OG Diablo game dev, so this could be much better for the company. I am still not happy about scapegoating and Kotick remaining at the top. I think he should be removed and I am disturbed by the lack of mainstream reporting on his connection to Jeffery Epstein. That is really important especially in light of the scandal and lawsuit.

What do you all think about this? What do you make of the timing, right before the earnings call? Do you think Bobby Kotick should step down?