Ex-Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has claimed that a lawsuit opposing Microsoft’s acquisition of the Call of Duty maker for $67.8bn was allegedly designed to “help pave the way for Embracer to increase its foothold in the California market at the expense of Activision”.
The statement comes via the lawsuit filed by Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden (AP7) in Delaware’s Court of Chancery in late 2022. As reported by Game File, AP7 believes the sale was allegedly rushed through in a bid to beat sexual misconduct charges levied at Kotick during his tenure as CEO.
In a stunning response submitted to the court by Kotick and his lawyers in December, Kotick disputed the claims, placing the blame squarely with The Embracer Group, which is alleged to have been, to use Game File’s words, “a potential secret collaborator on the suit”.
“This Delaware lawsuit was apparently aimed to help pave the way for Embracer to increase its foothold in the California market at the expense of Activision, making it more difficult for Activision to recruit talent and expand through M&A activity of the sort that Activision relied on to grow historically,” Kotick’s response to the court states.
In news unlikely to surprise you, Embracer has denied any such claims, telling Game File that although it is “perhaps difficult to accept for Mr Kotick, but we did not and do not need any help from a Swedish pension fund in competing with Activision”.
Last year, Kotick described the legal action taken by multiple government agencies over alleged harassment at his former company as “fake lawsuits”, which he says were deliberately planned by a union in a bid to increase its membership. Kotick also claimed a petition signed by around 1300 Activision Blizzard employees calling for his removal as CEO was “fake”, without providing more detail on which part of the document was apparently false.
Activision Blizzard was rocked back in 2021 by claims that the company had fostered a “frat boy” culture, with allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination. With multiple lawsuits pending, criticism centred on Kotick’s handling of the matter, particularly after a damning Wall St Journal report raised questions about how much the CEO had known about historical allegations.
Kotick has also previously claimed that Xbox began considering acquiring the Call of Duty maker around the sale of TikTok during US President Trump’s first administration, back in 2020.
