Legal Woes Ease for Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard is no longer facing a class-action lawsuit in California that claimed the video game publisher misled investors regarding allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against its female employees. 

The lawsuit — filed by shareholders in August 2021 — was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson, who found the investors failed to provide evidence of false statements made by Activision.

Anderson also ruled that Activision didn’t have a duty to disclose investigations by three separate government agencies: the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Activision’s legal jeopardy regarding sexual misconduct and harassment is far from over, as it faces an ongoing investigation. Recently, the company has taken steps to combat its ongoing issues. 

• It added two women, Lulu Cheng Meservey and Kerry Carr, to its board.
• Meservey serves as VP of communications at Substack, while Carr is a senior VP at Bacardi.

The investigation could also stand in the way of Microsoft’s deal to acquire Activision for $68.7 billion. The deal, announced in January, is currently under regulatory review.

Steady Business 

Activision generated $2.1 billion in revenue in Q4 2021, compared to $2.4 billion in revenue for the same period the year prior. The company reported 371 million monthly active users in Q4.

Full-year revenue for Activision reached $8.8 billion, up from $8 billion in revenue in FY2020.