PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan Criticizes Activision Blizzard Response To Bobby Kotick Report

President and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment Jim Ryan reportedly criticized Activision Blizzard in an email sent to Sony employees, calling Activision Blizzard's response to the ongoing allegations inadequate. The email was sent to employees as a direct response to the report that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick hid knowledge of misconduct and sexual harassment at the company.

In an email reportedly obtained by Bloomberg, Ryan said he and the executive staff at PlayStation were "disheartened and frankly stunned to read" the report and that Activision Blizzard "has not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment." Ryan said he reached out to Activision Blizzard after the report was released to express his concern and to ask how the company plans to address these claims moving forward, stating, "We do not believe their statements of response properly address the situation."

As one of the main console manufacturers, PlayStation has a close business relationship with Activision. On a deeper level, PlayStation has paid for an exclusive marketing deal with Call of Duty for the past several years, including Call of Duty: Vanguard, so Activision Blizzard's ongoing issues and its inaction regarding Kotick may have been deemed to reflect poorly on PlayStation and Sony as business partners.

Since the release of the report about Kotick's knowledge of past sexual assault and harassment claims, the Activision Blizzard board of directors released a statement of support for Kotick, although a small group of shareholders has called for Kotick to resign. Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout yesterday in response to the report about Kotick, the second walkout since July. These ongoing issues began in July when the state of California sued Activision Blizzard. Check out the full timeline of events involving Activision Blizzard and the California lawsuit it's facing.