Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick—who exited the Call of Duty publisher post-Microsoft merger in 2023 strapped to a golden parachute worth around $15 million (thanks, Polygon)—has been named on the board of Skydance Corporation, the newly-formed parent company of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Skydance Corporation is the self-styled "next-generation global media and entertainment company" formed after Paramount combined with Warner Bros. Discovery in a contentious deal worth $110 billion.
As noted by CNBC, Paramount boss David Ellison chased the deal for over a year, fending off competing interest from Netflix and overcoming an antitrust lawsuit that claimed the move would "snuff out competition, drive up prices, diminish content quality, and produce fewer movies and shows each year."
That suit was eventually settled in September 2026 after Paramount agreed to increase its domestic production, including boosting its production spending in the U.S. by at least $300 million annually.
Now, with the deal finally over the line, Bobby Kotick has been ushered into frame by a gushing Ellison.
"Bobby led a global entertainment company through three decades of sustained growth, and he brings real perspective on building enduring franchises and connecting with fans," said Ellison. "His record of pairing bold strategic moves with disciplined capital allocation is exactly the experience we need as we bring our businesses together."
Both video game divisions will operate under the Skydance Games banner going forward. That's according to an internal employee FAQ viewed by Vertical Slice, which states that both brands will continue to exist under Skydance Games. "Each will continue developing and publishing games based on its respective franchise portfolio," it adds.
Although Kotick has been lauded by Ellison for his "disciplined approach to capital allocation," the appointment comes with some rather heavy baggage. In July 2021, a California regulator filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard claiming the company had fostered a toxic "frat boy" workplace culture (via The New York Times).
A few months later, The Wall Street Journal published an extensive report claiming that Kotick knew for years about sexual misconduct allegations at the U.S. publisher. The article notes that Kotick himself has also been accused of mistreating women both inside and outside of the workplace, including one incident in 2006 that allegedly saw the long-serving exec leave a voicemail for an assistant threatening to have them killed.
An Activision Blizzard spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that Kotick "quickly apologised 16 years ago for the obviously hyperbolic and inappropriate voice mail."
Activision Blizzard eventually agreed to pay $54 million to settle the discrimination claims raised by California’s civil rights agency.
As noted by AP News, the settlement stated that "no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations” of systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard, nor claims that the company’s board of directors and CEO acted improperly or ignored or tolerated a culture of harassment, retaliation or discrimination."
It also allowed women who worked at the company between December 12, 2015, and December 31, 2020, either as internal hires or independent contractors to seek compensation. Around 45.75 million of the settlement amount was carved out for those payouts.
Following that high-profile legal skirmish, Kotick has committed a great deal of time and energy into carefully curating his public image. As People Make Games recently reported, the former CEO has wielded the threat of defamation to influence the context in which his name appears in print.
Kotick is joined by other high-profile figures on the Skydance Corporation board, such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who led a Labour government from 1997 to 2007—and, crucially, was found by an official government investigation to have entered the Iraq war alongside the United States without clear justification.
Chris is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience covering the video game industry. He was formerly news editor at Game Developer and is currently the founder and editor of this resplendent website.
