Blizzard

Big-Name Targets Push Midnight Blizzard Hacking Spree Back Into the Limelight

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Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) both recently disclosed that they suffered corporate email breaches at the hands of Russia’s “Midnight Blizzard” hackers. The group, which is tied to the Kremlin’s SVR foreign intelligence, is specifically linked to SVR’s APT 29 Cozy Bear, the gang that meddled in the United States 2016 presidential election, has conducted … Read more

Blizzard cancels survival game following layoffs

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“Today’s actions affect multiple teams within Blizzard, including development teams, shared service organizations and corporate functions,” Matt Booty, head of Xbox Studios, said in a note to staff. “As part of this focus, Blizzard is ending development on its survival game project and will be shifting some of the people working on it to one … Read more

Microsoft now says the CMA was ‘tough and fair’ over Activision Blizzard deal

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Microsoft president Brad Smith wasn’t happy with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year, after the regulator blocked Microsoft’s giant Activision Blizzard deal. Now that Microsoft has restructured its deal and won approval in the UK, Smith has kinder words for the CMA, describing the regulator as “tough and fair” in an interview … Read more

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick to step down end of year

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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick speaks at the CNBC Evolve Conference in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2019. Jesse Grant | CNBC Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will step down from his role as head of the video game company on Dec. 29, according to an internal memo from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer on … Read more

Activision Blizzard to pay more than $54 million in gender discrimination settlement

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$54,875,000. That’s the amount that Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay to settle the equal pay and discrimination lawsuit that paved the way for Microsoft’s acquisition of the video game company behind hit titles such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The Civil Rights Department (CRD) of the State of California announced on … Read more

California settles Activision Blizzard gender discrimination lawsuit for $54 million

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A California regulator has settled its blockbuster lawsuit that alleged a culture of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard. Now under the ownership of Microsoft, the gaming company will pay about $54 million as part of the settlement, according to a press release from California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD). The CRD (formerly known as the Department … Read more

Activision Blizzard agrees to settle California sex discrimination case

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Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick speaks at the CNBC Evolve conference November 19th in Los Angeles. Jesse Grant | CNBC Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard has agreed to settle a case from a California state agency that alleged the video game publisher discriminated against women, including denying them promotion opportunities and paying them less. California’s Civil Rights … Read more

Activision Blizzard had a plan — or ploy — to launch its own Android game store

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Until today, we’d never heard of “Project Boston”. It was Activision Blizzard King’s big plan to earn more money from its mobile games by changing its relationship with Google. And if things had gone differently, it would have given Activision Blizzard its own app store on Android. In late 2019, according to internal emails and … Read more

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Deal Changes the Game

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After more than 20 months and more hurdles than a track meet, Microsoft has completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Despite efforts from governments in the US and UK to keep tech giants from increasing in size and reach, Microsoft’s acquisition of the Call of Duty maker shows the enduring power of major … Read more

Microsoft closes Activision Blizzard deal after regulatory review

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Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corp., during the company’s Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul, Nov. 15, 2022. SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images Microsoft has closed its $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard, according to a regulatory filing by the company on Friday. It’s Microsoft’s largest deal in its 48-year history … Read more