Overwatch producer blames Bobby Kotick for OW2 delays & content drought

In the wake of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, an Overwatch producer has moved to blame CEO Bobby Kotick for a content drought, as well as the delays to Overwatch 2. 

Activision Blizzard has been in the news a lot over the past several months, but for two very different reasons.

The saga really got started back in July 2021 when allegations of workplace misconduct surfaced against the developer, as a lawsuit was filed by the state of California. This later folded into shareholders calling for Kotick’s resignation as reports claimed that the CEO knew of the misconduct for years.

With Microsoft having announced that they will be acquiring Activision Blizzard, Kotick is once again in hot water as he has been cited as a root cause of many of Overwatch’s content woes.

Overwatch producer hits out at Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick

Even though Kotick may be looking at a serious payday from the Microsoft acquisition, and reports suggest he is likely being phased out of his role, that’s not stopping current staff from continuing to criticize the CEO.

Tracy Kennedy, a producer on the Overwatch team, has taken to Twitter to comment on her perception of Kotick and how he has potentially affected the game’s development.

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She tweeted: “Bobby, tell everyone about the random projects for OW1 you all would shove on us, the team would do OT for only them to get canceled and for months of OW2 dev to have been lost. Or how almost entire teams are turning over and citing you as the reason. Don’t be shy.

Tracy signed off with a response to her original tweet, saying goodbye.

“You hide behind scapegoats because you’re a coward, my mistake,” Kennedy tweeted. “The entire world will remember you to be a greedy joke, and there’s nothing you can do to change that. We outlasted you and we won. Byeee.”

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This Overwatch producer is not the first to stand up to Kotick throughout this process, with PlayStation’s CEO having done the same back in November 2021 along with several others.

But, with Microsoft taking over fully in 2023 and Kotick looking increasingly likely to leave his role, Overwatch and OW2 may be in for a very different kind of year in 2022, with the league set to return in April on a build of the new game.