People Make Games

Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press (Patreon)

Published:

2026-09-24 14:32:13

Imported:

2026-10

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In recent years, the media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. Why is that?

We've got another huge PMG investigation today, as games reporter Mikhail Klimentov (formerly of the Washington Post, now news editor for Politico) delves into the ways in which Kotick has been able to pressure journalists into changing the way in which they write about his history in the video games business.

This was a story that, as you'll hear, very almost didn't get published and I suppose that's sort of the point. Mikhail does an incredible job here of examining the validity of the legal threats sent by Kotick's lawyers, but also taking a step back, he then considers the wider chilling effect that's been cast over a media landscape that has too often not been able to stand by its reporting in the face of costly legal action.

Speaking of which, please know that it's your support here on Patreon that has allowed us to pay for the legal advice and the liability insurance required to get something like this over the line. There is a big cost to this kind of work and you're the reason we've been able to do it!

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Inside Bobby Kotick's Campaign Against the Press

In recent years, the games media has quietly begun to change the way in which it writes about Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. PMG investigates the way in which Kotick has used the threat of defamation to reshape the way in which his own legacy has been documented by the press and whether these changes have been made in good faith, or if they're actually being driven by the media's inability to stand by its reporting in the face of costly legal action. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PeopleMakeGames Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/people-make-games-inside-bobby-koticks-campaign-against-the-press Sources (including a gift link to the WSJ investigation): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fqv6lsL2IHSavhByiRbbgwehH3yh6ZppelP64XJUIuQ/edit?tab=t.0 Reporting by Mikhail Klimentov: https://bsky.app/profile/leadergrev.bsky.social Created by Chris Bratt: https://bsky.app/profile/chrisbratt.bsky.social And Anni Sayers (Doesn't like social media) Stock footage: Getty Images, Reuters Music & SFX: Epidemic Sound