Christine Hines will join Activision Blizzard's top leadership team on April 25. She will play a leading role in delivering on Activision Blizzard's commitment to increase the number of women and non-binary gender workers in its workforce by 50 percent over a five-year period.
Activision said Hines will also work across all of its game teams to "ensure that diverse and inclusive perspectives are promoted in the game design, including story planning, character development, game flow, and community sharing."
Prior to joining Activision Blizzard, Hines was Managing Director at Accenture and was responsible for diversity and inclusion in the company. She also advises clients on large-scale changes in business models, organizational design, HR strategy, and employee experience.
"I'm excited to join a company that puts a commitment to diversity first and makes progress towards the ambitious goals it has set for itself," she said. "In an industry that has historically been underrepresented, I look forward to leading the company's efforts to further build a workplace that values openness, fairness and inclusion."
"Video games have amazing potential to connect communities around the world and showcase heroes from a variety of backgrounds. I look forward to playing a role in expanding the talent range and bringing these compelling experiences to a wide range of players."
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick added, "Christine's success in leading complex corporate transformations with measurable results makes her the right person to ensure we deliver on our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and build a model workplace that aligns with our values." ”
Back in October, CEO Bobby Kotic made a commitment to increase diversity. And according to insiders, he is an accomplice to Activision Blizzard's troubled cultural continuation.
The publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush recently said it has problems attracting new hires and retaining existing ones, while ongoing litigation and bad media could exacerbate its hiring difficulties.
In March, a federal court judge said she would approve a $18 million settlement for a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by Activision Blizzard at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year.
In January, Microsoft announced its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion, the largest deal in the history of the gaming industry.
Microsoft hopes to close the deal in the first half of 2023, but it will need to meet the deal conditions and complete regulatory review. The FTC is dealing with an antitrust review of the deal to determine whether the acquisition will give Xbox an unfair competitive advantage.
And just on Thursday, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse and Cory Booker wrote to FTC Chair Lina Khan expressing their concern that the agreement "threatens worker-led accountability requirements."
"The proposed merger has hampered union efforts and undermined workers' calls for accountability."" More than 1,800 Activision Blizzard employees signed a letter calling on Mr Kotic to step down from the group, one of the main demands of union organizers.