Former Activision Blizzard CEO says Microsoft acquisition came after TikTok purchase failure

A recent interview on the Grit Podcast featuring the former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and former Entertainment Arts CCO Bing Gordon revealed that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision came after both companies failed to purchase TikTok. Kotick also disclosed the discussions he had with Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, that led to the sale of the game-holding and development company to the tech conglomerate. 

The former Activision Blizzard CEO explained the events leading to discussions about TikTok’s sale. Kotick pointed out the Trump administration’s 2020 ban on video streaming companies, placing Microsoft as the highest bidder in the company’s sales talks. He also mentioned his personal interest in TikTok’s purchase at the time. 

The former Activision Blizzard CEO revealed that his conversation with Nadella led to the discussion about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Nadella, at the time, turned down Kotick’s partnership suggestion, adding that if the TikTok deal fell through, he would discuss Activision Blizzard’s acquisition. 

Microsoft negotiates TikTok purchase this year

According to Reuters, President Donald Trump is in talks with Microsoft about acquiring TikTok amid anticipations of the video streaming platform’s ban this year. The tech conglomerate TikTok and ByteDance did not provide any statements concerning the claims. The President still highlighted that Microsoft’s possible TikTok purchase would prevent the ban, which is expected to affect over 170 million American TikTok users as of April. 

The Chinese-owned company has raised national security concerns and was taken offline for a few hours on January 19. Trump mentioned that Microsoft was not the only contender for the purchase of social media platform. Kotick, who has been speculated to be among the interested parties, also did not comment on his future plans for TikTok. 

Kotick and Gordon discuss EA’s interest in Activision Blizzard

Kotick and Gordon pointed out Entertainment Arts’ interest in Activision Blizzard after the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games in 2008. Vivendi Games was the owner of Blizzard, owning famous titles like Call of Duty and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. The two explained that EA had tried to buy out Activision Blizzard severally, but the game developer turned down the offers. 

“They tried to buy us a bunch of times, we had merger conversations a bunch of times.”

– Bobby Kotick, Former Activision Blizzard CEO

Gordon also highlighted EA’s previous lack of interest in Blizzard games despite the game developer placing the company as one of the publishers contacted about the purchases. According to the former EA CCO, the company turned down Blizzard’s sale of games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Guitar Heroes, adding that EA ‘passed on all of them.’

The former EA executive also congratulated Kotick for realizing Blizzard’s potential and buying the developer while retaining all the employees. Gordon further applauded the former Activision Blizzard CEO for progressing with different projects owned by Blizzard even after purchasing the company. Call of Duty has remained one of the most successful franchises under Activision Blizzard, with the latest release being Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. 

The pair also bashed the former EA boss, John Riccitiello, describing him as the worst CEO the video games industry had seen. Riccitiello, who served at EA from 2007 to 2013, left the company after delivering a series of layoffs and underwhelming financial results. The former EA boss joined another video game company, Unity Technologies, from 2014 to 2023. Riccitiello left the company due to multiple controversies, including install fees.

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