Since July 2021, Activision Blizzard has reportedly fired or pushed out more than three dozen employees and disciplined nearly 40 others as part of its efforts to address the company's allegations of sexual harassment and unethical working conditions, according to the Wall Street Journal. The terminations follow nearly 700 reports of employee concern over misconduct within the company, as well as "regulatory probes" into Activision Blizzard's workplace culture from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Activision spokesperson Helaine Klasky confirmed the departures Monday, January 17, starting that, so far, "37 people have 'exited' and 44 have been disciplined as part of the company’s investigation." Klasky also contested the figure that there have been 700 reports, claiming that "employee comments included statements on social media, and the issues raised ranged from what she described as benign workplace concerns to 'a small number' of potentially serious assertions, which the company has investigated." According to the report, this was something Kotick intended to address prior to the holidays, however the CEO ultimately chose to withhold the information after determining it could "make the company’s workplace problems seem bigger than is already known."

This news comes in the midst of Microsoft announcing its intentions to purchase Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion. While questions of what this acquisition means for consumers and Microsoft's competition have been circulating ever since, several larger questions still remain with perhaps even less clear answers--questions like what this will mean for Activision Blizzard's ongoing workplace turmoil and CEO Bobby Kotick, and why Microsoft felt comfortable enough to buy the company in the midst of such unprecedented tension. According to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, the answer to that last question largely came down to the changes Activision has made thus far.