Rumor: Activision Blizzard CEO Considered Buying Kotaku or PC Gamer
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has suggested in recent weeks that gaming news sites like Kotaku and PC Gamer should be taken over. For example, he would like to improve the public perception of Activision Blizzard, anonymous sources say.
It is not clear from the Wall Street Journal article how the acquisition of Kotaku and PC Gamer would contribute to a better perception of Activision Blizzard, according to Kotick. For example, it is not clear whether Kotick would have wanted to influence the articles surrounding Activision Blizzard after the media takeover.
The newspaper relies on anonymous sources ‘familiar with Kotick’. An Activision Blizzard spokesperson denies that Kotick wanted to take over media. Kotaku and PC Gamer declined to comment.
In the same article, sources say that Microsoft had been interested in an acquisition of the game company for some time, but that Kotick was not necessarily enthusiastic about it. When the game company received negative publicity several times last year because of the treatment of women, Kotick Activision wanted to sell Blizzard to Microsoft.
Bloomberg sources also say that Kotick and other Activision Blizzard executives have previously been negative about a Microsoft acquisition. However, these sources say that even after the negative coverage, Activision Blizzard did not immediately agree to the acquisition. For example, the company is said to have searched for other interested candidates, with Facebook’s parent company being called Meta. However, according to the sources, this did not happen. Meta and Activision Blizzard declined to comment on this rumor.
Microsoft would have noticed this ‘reluctance’ from Activision Blizzard and therefore decided to cool down the takeover talks. Activision Blizzard eventually resumed these talks, with the acquisition discussed over the holiday season. The two companies announced the acquisition on Tuesday. Microsoft is willing to pay $68.7 billion for the acquisition, which is expected to close by July 2023.
According to Bloomberg, Kotick owns nearly four million of Activision Blizzard’s shares. Microsoft will pay $95 per share on the acquisition; Kotick will therefore earn $ 375.3 million from the acquisition. Sources say Kotick will step down as CEO once the deal is complete, both companies have not confirmed or denied this.