- "I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days," Kotick wrote.
- "Every voice matters — and we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future. Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf."
Driving the news: In his letter, Kotick said the company would:
- Start listening sessions and "continue to investigate each and every claim."
- Terminate any managers "found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences."
- Add resources to "ensure" managers were adhering to a prior directive to consider diverse candidates to all positions.
Between the lines: Last Tuesday, California filed a lawsuit against the company over its "sexist culture."
- The suit included allegations of unequal, discriminatory pay and allegations of a toxic sexist culture that included drunken male employees harassing female employees in their cubicles.
- It also alleged that an employee who died by suicide may have been subjected to repeated sexual harassment.
- A senior executive had described the suit as "distorted," "untrue," "meritless," and "out of date."
Of note: Employees announced earlier in the day plans for a walkout on Wednesday.
- They issued a list of demands, including an independent investigation and an end to contracts that mandate arbitration to resolve disputes.
- "It is imperative to identify how current systems have failed to prevent employee harassment, and to propose new solutions to address these issues," the workers said in a statement shared with Axios.
- In his letter, Kotick said the company has asked the firm WilmerHale to review company policies and said that work will be led by Stephanie Avakian, who most recently served as a director in the SEC's enforcement division during the Trump administration.
What to watch: The company also said it would also delete "inappropriate" in-game content in "World of Warcraft."
- That could be a reference to characters in the game who are named after a long-time former creative lead on the game who is now accused in the California suit of sexual harassment.
- An Activision PR rep did not reply by press time to clarify.
