The Bobby Kotick report led to demands for his removal, amid an Activision Blizzard walkout. The employees are rightly furious about what they’ve learned about their CEO. Learning that he was well aware of sexual harassment at the company – at worst doing nothing, at best abetting, and threatening to have someone killed could not have gone over well. The ABK Workers Alliance spoke out and as the Activision Blizzard walkout begins, demands ring out for CEO Bobby Kotick to be removed. It doesn’t stop there, either. Even Activision shareholders are calling for the removal of Bobby Kotick.

This isn’t even the first walkout in this calendar year. The initial walkout was in July. That walkout was held in protest of Activision Blizzard’s response to the DFEH lawsuit, and now new demands are being made in earnest. It was said on Twitter that over 150 employees showed up to the walkout, to show their solidarity, to have their voices heard. These employees want to be heard, and make sure some form of change happens. They aren’t the only ones who are outraged either. Fans are furious, sparking responses from all corners, such as Asmongold. His tweet was very succinct. But what about the employee’s response?

ABK took to Twitter to talk about this, and the demands of Kotick being replaced, as the Activision Blizzard employees planned the walkout. “We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy. We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source. We are staging a Walkout today. We welcome you to join us.”

As we said, over 150 employees showed up to the walkout, standing up for their demands to see the Activision Blizzard CEO removed. While the Activision Blizzard board of directors did stand up for Bobby Kotick. But the employees again, aren’t the only people upset.

A letter was also penned to the Activision Blizzard board of directors, by the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a group of shareholders in Activision Blizzard. They are requesting Kotick step down, and also asked for the resignation of two more board members – Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado. The three are being requested to step down by December 31st, 2021. If they don’t, the group will not vote for the reelection of current board members in June.

The shareholders, who hold 4.8 million shares of the 779 million outstanding shares do not feel Activision has fostered a safe working environment for their employees. They had this to say. “In contrast to past company statements, CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of many incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and gender discrimination at Activision Blizzard, but failed either to ensure that the executives and managers responsible were terminated or to recognize and address the systematic nature of the company’s hostile workplace culture.”

The shareholders stated that it’s clear the current leadership hasn’t protected their employees, and it’s time for a reset button for the board of directors. The company needs a new CEO, and so the shareholders put this request out. It’s interesting to see the shareholder’s interests align with the employees in this way. Though it could be fair to say the shareholders see Kotick as a threat to profits, it could go a long way to seeing Kotick forced out of his position.