Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick to step down

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will step down from his role as head of the video game company on Dec. 29, according to an internal memo from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer Wednesday.

The leadership change was expected after Microsoft closed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October. The deal went through extensive regulatory scrutiny in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe.

 “I’d like to thank Bobby—for his invaluable contributions to this industry, his partnership in closing the Activision Blizzard acquisition and his collaboration following the close—and I wish him and his family the very best in his next chapter,” Spencer wrote in the memo, which was viewed by CNBC.

The deal, the largest in Microsoft’s history, was first announced in January 2022. The acquisition gives Microsoft a hefty portfolio of video game franchises, including Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft, Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Warcraft.

In a release Wednesday, Kotick expressed “gratitude and appreciation” for his time at Activision Blizzard. He first joined the company as Director and CEO of Activision, Inc., in February 1991 before serving as CEO of Activision Blizard beginning in July of 2008.

“I cannot adequately express the pride I have in the people who continue to contribute to our success and all those who have helped throughout my 32 years leading this company,” Kotick wrote in a release Wednesday. “We are now part of the world’s most admired company. That isn’t an accident.”

–CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report