Bobby Kotick accuses Embracer of manipulating legal proceedings

The argument that the publisher's sale was hastily closed gained traction following a lawsuit filed by the Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-Fonden, known in financial circles by the abbreviation AP7. The suit was submitted in the Delaware Court of Chancery at the end of 2022. According to documents obtained by the portal Game File, the European entity argues that the fast-tracked negotiation process acted as a corporate maneuver to shield the then-CEO from severe allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment that threatened his position. Subtly, it can be seen how the industry's backstage environment treats billion-dollar figures as a convenient shield, using colossal market mergers to muffle grave humanitarian scandals and ensuring that top executives exit the scene with full pockets rather than facing legal consequences for their actions.

In a rebuttal sent to the court by his legal team, the former head of Activision Blizzard dismissed the Swedish shareholders' arguments and pointed fingers at The Embracer Group, suggesting that the conglomerate acted as a kind of secret collaborator in building the opposition process.

"This lawsuit in Delaware apparently aimed to help pave the way for Embracer to expand its presence in the California market at Activision's expense, making it harder for Activision to recruit talent and grow." — argued the rebuttal signed by Bobby Kotick in an attempt to shift the litigation blame to the European competition.

The response from the European giant was immediate through a press release, dismissing any interference in the American courts. The Swedish group's management mocked the businessman's allegations, stating that, while it may be difficult for him to accept reality, the brand doesn't need the assistance of foreign pension funds to compete commercially in the entertainment sector. Subtly, this public exchange of barbs among corporate bigwigs reveals the level of paranoia and detachment from reality that prevail at the top of the corporate pyramid, where any legitimate demand for ethics and social responsibility is instantly distorted and treated as if it were an industrial conspiracy orchestrated by market rivals.

This tendency of the executive to delegitimize official challenges is not an unprecedented behavior in his corporate biography. Last year, the former CEO had already labeled investigations conducted by government agencies into the company's toxic work environment as sham processes planned by labor unions to inflate their membership numbers. He adopted the same dismissive stance by stamping as fraudulent the petition signed by about 1,300 Activision Blizzard employees demanding his immediate removal from the company's leadership, without bothering to provide technical evidence to support his falsehood claims.