Activision Blizzard will pay $35m USD to settle charges raised by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following a probe relating to workplace misconduct.
The SEC launched its investigation into Activision Blizzard in September 2021, subpoenaing CEO Bobby Kotick and other senior executives to provide their internal communications regarding the company’s response to the high-profile allegations of widespread misconduct and harassment within the company.
After concluding its investigation, the SEC charged that the publisher had failed to maintain disclosure controls and procedures that would ensure it could adequately collect and analyse employees’ complaints of workplace misconduct. As a result, it said, Activision Blizzard’s management lacked sufficient information to “understand the volume and substance of employee complaints about workplace misconduct”, leaving it without the means to determine whether larger issues existed that needed to be disclosed to investors.
