Activision Blizzard CCO Will Be Relieved of Her Duties Ahead of Microsoft Acquisition

Players are already aware about the biggest deal in the history of gaming, and it is yet to be settled. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will go down in history as one of the most expensive acquisitions in the gaming industry, but there have been a lot of issues that have been preventing the deal to go through. Recently, we learned that the Call of Duty maker’s controversial CCO, Frances Townsend, has decided to step down from her duties before the deal goes through.

Frances was a big part of the DFEH investigation that took place in the company, just recently. During this issue, Activision Blizzard was accused of discrimination against female employees in terms and conditions of employment, including compensation, assignment, promotion, termination, constructive discharge and retaliation. It also consisted accusations of sexual harassment towards women. Frances’ response to the investigation was “a truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit”.

According to the latest report by Bloomberg, it has been confirmed that Francis Townsend, the Chief Compliance Officer of Activision Blizzard and also the executive vice president of corporate affairs will be relieving herself from her duties after 2 years. She will still be a part of the company and work in the capacity of an adviser to the board and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Bobby Kotick. Luci Altman, senior vice president of corporate governance, and Jen Brewer, senior vice president of ethics and compliance will be taking up Townsend’s place after she exits.

Here’s what Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, had to say about Francis Townsend:

“Fran did a truly exceptional job—actually four jobs—with continuously increasing responsibilities and the most exemplary work ethic, Fran also has done an extraordinary job enhancing the strong governance and compliance programs we have throughout the Company”.

In other news, PlayStation is still voicing concerns over the deal, as the the fear of losing out Call of Duty looms over them. This issue persists even after Microsoft has stated that Call of Duty will be a part of both platform for several years to come. They are also criticising PlayStation for criticising them for making purchases for platform exclusive content, even though their strategy for the past few years has been to release platform exclusive content. PlayStation also closed the deal of Bungie acquisition recently.