Activision’s Kotick Pens Memo to Staff Ahead of Jan. 1 Departure

Bobby Kotick, who turned a passion for video games into a 32-year career as head of Activision Blizzard Inc., one of the industry’s top publishers, bid farewell to employees after the company’s $69 billion sale to Microsoft Corp.

“You have transformed a hobbyist form of entertainment into the world’s most engaging medium,” Kotick, 60, said in a letter to staff. “It has been the privilege of my lifetime to work alongside you as we broadened the appeal of games.”

Bobby Kotick

Photographer: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg

With the takeover, Microsoft gets some of the best-selling games in the industry — titles played ...