Activision Blizzard releases statement regarding investigations

Activision Blizzard lawsuit — (Image credit: Activision Blizzard)

Activision Blizzard has confirmed that it is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a statement released today.

On the Activision Blizzard Investor site, a post confirmed a recent report from the Wall Street Journal [Paywall] that the publisher is being investigated by the SEC and EEOC. While the statement states that these investigations are concerning "certain employment practices", it's claimed in the Wall Street Journal report that the SEC's investigation scope "[includes] how the videogame-publishing giant handled employees’ allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace discrimination."

The Wall Street Journal report also claims that several Activision executives have been subpoenaed as part of the SEC investigation, including CEO Bobby Kotick. To that end, Activision Blizzard confirmed in this statement that it is "complying with a recent [SEC] subpoena issued to the Company and several current and former employees and executives regarding disclosures on employment matters and related issues."

It added: "The Company is confident in its prior disclosures and is cooperating with the SEC’s investigation."

The statement also confirms that Activision is: "actively engaged in continued discussions with the EEOC and has cooperated with the EEOC’s investigation concerning certain employment practices."

As part of the statement from Activision, Kotick says: "We are deeply committed to making Activision Blizzard one of the best, most inclusive places to work anywhere. There is absolutely no place anywhere in our Company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind."

"While we continue to work in good faith with regulators to address and resolve past workplace issues, we also continue to move ahead with our own initiatives to ensure that we are the very best place to work. We remain committed to addressing all workplace issues in a forthright and prompt manner.”

For all the information on what has happened in recent months with the Call of Duty publisher, here's the Activision Blizzard lawsuit explained.

Ben Tyrer is a freelance games journalist with over ten years experience of writing about games. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism he's worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as GamesRadar+ (hey, that's this website!) as a news editor. He's also contributed to Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. His game of the year - no matter the year - is Rocket League.