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- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
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- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
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Activision Blizzard: Troubled powerhouse in gaming world
Activision Blizzard is a star developer of gaming hits like "Call of Duty", but the firm has been roiled by serious sex discrimination allegations that have led to lawsuits, firings and official scrutiny.
Microsoft's buyout deal values the company at a whopping $69 billion, despite the scandal that has put an unflattering spotlight on the "Candy Crush" maker's leadership and company culture.
Founded in 1979 by former Atari programmers unhappy with their pay, Activision had more than $8 billion in sales in 2020.
It relies on a few major franchises, namely "World of Warcraft", a multiplayer game that is still very popular almost 30 years after it launch, the first-person shooter "Call of Duty" and the "Candy Crush" puzzle game.
Yet since last year, the company has been hit by a major equality scandal.
Trouble began to surface with the launch, in late July, of a lawsuit by the state of California, which reported sexual harassment and discrimination against women, who represent about 20 percent of the firm's employees.
A nearly all white and male suite of executives, pay disparities and other markers of gender disparity have turned up in regulators allegations.
- Bad behavior -
The documents also report claims of a "frat boy" party culture of heavy drinking in which women workers were groped, had to fend off sexual advances and faced retaliation if they spoke up.
"Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies, and joke about rape," the California state suit says.
Activision Blizzard has reached an agreement with a US federal discrimination watchdog to create an $18 million fund to settle claims alleging sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
CEO Bobby Kotick apologized to employees and announced last year the implementation of a "zero tolerance" policy against harassment, as well as the creation of a $250 million envelope to allow the publisher to increase to 50 percent the proportion of women and non-binary people.
It has been a turbulent period for Kotick, who has been CEO for over three decades after entering the company with a group of investors and a personal $400,000 stake that would be worth $16 billion at Tuesday's price.
An old-fashioned entrepreneur, Kotick rebuilt Activision after its near bankruptcy in the 1990s before embarking on a run of acquisitions to negotiate the shift to multiplayer games and then to the smartphone revolution.
In 2008, he merged his firm with Vivendi Games, allowing Vivendi to take 52 percent of the group's capital in order to get "World of Warcraft".
Only five years later, he and a group of investors bought the bulk of the participation of Vivendi, then in financial difficulties.
Then in 2016, Activision Blizzard dropped $5.9 billion to acquire the British-Swedish King, creator of "Candy Crush", and positioned itself in the world of mobile games.
Kotick has been pressured to resign by many critics, investors and employees, as a Wall Street Journal investigation alleged in November that he had known about certain accusations for several years.
According to the Journal, the Long Island, New York, native told employees that he was ready to leave the company if anti-harassment measures did not bear fruit quickly enough.
A.Rodriguezv--AMWN