Xbox to make ‘proactive adjustments’ to relationship with Activision following allegations

Things are not going well at Activision Blizzard right now, as more information has come to light regarding the company's internal practices and calls for CEO, Bobby Kotick, to resign have grown louder. This week, we heard from PlayStation's Jim Ryan, who spoke up against what is happening at the studio and now, Xbox's Phil Spencer has also confirmed that Microsoft is ‘evaluating' its relationship with the studio. 

An internal email sent to Xbox employees by Phil Spencer was obtained by Bloomberg. In the message, Spencer addresses what is going on at Activision Blizzard, stating that “this type of behaviour has no place in our industry”. The comment follows on from reports that CEO, Bobby Kotick, has covered up instances of harassment within the company and has also been known to treat female employees poorly.

Spencer's message goes on to say that the Xbox leadership team will be “evaluating all aspects” of the company's relationship with Activision Blizzard and will be “making ongoing and proactive adjustments”.

Last week, Activision Blizzard employees staged another walkout and over a thousand employees have signed a petition to remove Kotick as head of the company. The board of directors responded to this by standing by Kotick. In response to news of Spencer's Xbox memo, Activision Blizzard said that it “values feedback” from all of its partners, but did not elaborate any further.

KitGuru Says: Over the last six months, Activision Blizzard shares have been sliding and as more news has come out, share prices have continued to drop. Whether or not this is enough to get the board to side with its large base of employees and replace Kotick still remains to be seen. 

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