Acti-Blizz Wanted To Buy PC Gamer & Kotaku

The fallout from the announcement that the company that owns the Fallout franchise now will be buying Activision-Blizzard|King is still reeling throughout the gaming sphere. Some like the idea with the talk of Kotick getting the boot by the time the acquisition is complete, others are concerned Microsoft will do a Lionhead Studios and put them to work on something like the Kinect. Can you believe they did that instead of making a sequel to The Movies, one of the best tycoon games of all time? However, with that fallout comes the terse little details the company didn’t want anyone to know about.

In fact, it was talk of another acquisition that makes no plausible sense in the real world, but Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the company behind Call of Duty and Overwatch wanted to buy PC Gamer and Kotaku. I know, who actually likes Kotaku when a Dyslexic can catch all their editorial errors? Joking aside, this isn’t the funny stupid evil Bond villain idea as it sounds, it is quite serious.

The point of the acquisition from Kotick and his co-conspirator’s point of view was to change the perspective of the company by influencing the press. As much as I find it laughable to call the gaming press important beyond a little bit of consumerism, it is an important part of the gaming world when companies like Activision-Blizzard|King do have issues such as last July. Or, that time when there was a bit of bother in China with Hearthstone or something else going on. The entire point of the company’s plan was to break down the phrase “free and independent press” so people don’t hear about all the horrible things they have done/are doing.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the idea came under Kotick’s suggestion “in recent weeks.” This was after months and months of reports by both websites on the systemic harassment of workers and the attempted cover-ups, and departures. However, the Journal also goes on to report what halted this plan, and as you’d expect it doesn’t paint Bobby Kotick in the best light. The times noted that Microsoft has sought Activision-Blizzard|King in some form for some time, “but Mr. Kotick was cool to the idea until Microsoft offered him a graceful exit.” Despite these claims being denied by Activision-Blizzard|King, Kotaku owner G/O Media chose not to comment to Eurogamer.

As lovely (that’s sarcasm!) as it sounds to hear that Kotick just wants a quiet little life away from the mess made under his command, it does prove one thing. Kotick didn’t want to hear about the repeated harassment conducted under his hand. He doesn’t want to hear the stories of systemic problems within the company he has commanded since 1991, and all his promises following the lawsuits were always empty. That last portion (presumably) is a statement I am sure no one is surprised to hear anymore. When you leave Mr. Kotick, sometime around early 2023 to the mid-point, let the door click shut after it has kicked you out.