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Activision Blizzard Hires Senior Executives from Disney and Delta

btarunr

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Activision Blizzard, Inc. today announced the hiring of two senior executives to help the company build a more inclusive workplace as well as diversify and grow its revenue. Julie Hodges, Senior Vice President, Corporate HR and Compensation, Benefits and Talent Acquisition at The Walt Disney Company, will become Chief People Officer, effective September 21. Sandeep Dube, Senior Vice President, Revenue Management at Delta Airlines, will become Chief Commercial Officer, effective September 27.

"These two outstanding leaders from companies with exceptional reputations will help us achieve our goal of becoming the best company to work for in the entertainment industry while growing our reach, engagement and player investment," said Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard. Ms. Hodges brings more than three decades of global human resources experience in entertainment and an impeccable record of shaping corporate culture. She will be responsible for the company's global talent organization, making Activision Blizzard the destination for top talent. In her role, she will lead all aspects of human resources, including diversity, equity and inclusion, talent acquisition, employee experience, learning and development, compensation and benefits and workforce planning.



"I can't think of a better person to join our team and help lead our ongoing commitment to an inclusive workplace," Kotick said. "Julie is the seasoned leader we need to ensure we are the most inspiring, equitable and emulated entertainment company in the world."

"I share the company's belief that a work environment should welcome all perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds," Hodges said. "A workforce where everyone feels valued is critical to the success of our business, as is a trusting, engaging and safe environment that encourages creativity and innovation and in which all employees can thrive. It takes a collective effort to do this, and I'm looking forward to ensuring that we support the diversity of our talent to bring our people together and continue creating amazing entertainment."

In her 32 years at Disney, Hodges led Human Resources for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the Talent Acquisition Center of Excellence, HRBP for Worldwide Operations, and Disney University/Learning and Development, Organization Development and Cast Research. Hodges earned a BS degree from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She replaces Claudine Naughton, who is leaving the company.

Mr. Dube will oversee Activision's global Sales and Go-To-Market teams. He will be responsible for developing and implementing commercial strategy and delivering on the company's revenue growth plan.

"Sandeep is a rare leader who not only has the ability to expand our global go-to-market teams, but also bring his diverse experience from an accomplished career to unite our commercial group," Mr. Kotick said. "Our mission is to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment. While Sandeep connected the world through air travel at Delta, he created a growth-oriented culture that was focused on the very best customer experiences. The innovations he inspired created incredible customer loyalty. We are excited to continue our work on revenue growth with an even greater focus on recognizing and rewarding our players."

Mr. Dube said, "I couldn't be more excited to join this team and work together to continue building our inclusive culture and to expand our audiences."

Before joining Activision, Mr. Dube led revenue management, product strategy, and commercial delivery at Delta. Notably, he played a key role in building the company's loyalty program and steering the airline through the volatile demand environment created by the pandemic. Prior to Delta, Sandeep worked for more than a decade in the banking industry as a commercial and marketing leader, driving revenue growth for consumer-lending businesses.

Dube holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management. He is filling the role left vacant after Armin Zerza was promoted to Chief Financial Officer earlier this year.

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Chief People Officer? And now you know why the games are so buggy at launch, why they cost as much as they do, and why they need the DLC model to make a profit.
 
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Hmm... it seems to me that they're greasing the skids to hell with WD40.
 
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Great, screw th still, haven't bought from them in forever and will never again
 

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help the company build a more inclusive workplace as well as diversify and grow its revenue.

I wounder who is going to buy Blizzard when the time comes, maybe MS so they can own more patents with games and stop even more creative games.
 
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Chief People Officer? And now you know why the games are so buggy at launch, why they cost as much as they do, and why they need the DLC model to make a profit.

I think it has more to do with the lawsuit by the State of California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Keep your hands to yourself and stop being sexist. They have to project a culture of change now that they've been caught and sued.
 
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They have gone from being an innovative company to a reactive one. Activision marriage just not been fruitful to Blizzard.
 

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They have gone from being an innovative company to a reactive one. Activision marriage just not been fruitful to Blizzard.
I think Blizzard was going downhill when they started hiring individuals like "Furor Planedefiler" given his previous history, only to end up giving him the boot later on. There's just something not right about that guy.
 
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I wonder what role these Disney execs had in firing Gina Carano. Great hires Blizzard, that'll help your brand!
 
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How about you hire actual game developers and allow them to create the games they want to play, just like Blizzard did just 10 years ago and why it was one of the most bellowed gaming companies in the entire world.

Ever since they started becoming political and towing the line they've been going downhill. They want to bend over for China, then for this country, for that, for these people, and it all becomes political shit, rather than just focusing on making great games and not worrying about the profits, because with great games the profits will come automatically!
 

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How about you hire actual game developers and allow them to create the games they want to play, just like Blizzard did just 10 years ago and why it was one of the most bellowed gaming companies in the entire world.

Ever since they started becoming political and towing the line they've been going downhill. They want to bend over for China, then for this country, for that, for these people, and it all becomes political shit, rather than just focusing on making great games and not worrying about the profits, because with great games the profits will come automatically!

Because its all very corporate. Its not like back in the 80s and the 90s when there were absolutely hundreds of dev studios constantly making games which meant that there was something for everyone and there was never a shortage of games to play.

When you start playing the wallstreet game and treating consumers as a means to an end rather than the people you should dote on the most compared to the shareholders and investors then the game is lost.

Kotick sits on the board of directors for coca cola. Activision and all its subsidiaries is nothing but a chess peice or money piñata to him. Its a means to 'his' end which is making more money and appeasing shareholders/investors.
 
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The grievance studies injections "helped" Gillette, I recall.

The totally non sexist or man hating "the future is female" (you know, a thesis from speech suggesting to merely reduce population of men to 10%) take on Star Wars also worked wonders, I guess.

You surely need some of that stuff, Blizzard.
 
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