2023 has now entered the countdown, and at this time last year, most domestic players were still immersed in the "grief" of Activision Blizzard's imminent withdrawal from the national server. A year has passed, and the return of Activision Blizzard's national server is still far away, and someone is about to quit in the near future. Of course, he is not a character in the game, but the current CEO of Activision Blizzard, Caldecott.
Caldecott, who has been at the helm of Activision Blizzard for more than 30 years, will officially leave his post on December 29 (that is, next Friday), and he issued a resignation letter yesterday. From the 1990 reshuffle for Activision to bring it back to life, to the first fifteen years of the 21st century, Activision Blizzard became one of the greatest game companies, and there is a shadow of Caldeco behind it.
Since the release of Overwatch, Blizzard Games has never released a work with a good reputation and sales. In 2021, due to accusations of a sexist culture within Blizzard, Caldecott's personal reputation took a sharp turn for the worse. Not only domestic players, but also overseas Blizzard game fans also have this opinion.
Upon learning that Caldek had only one week left in his term, a new round of frenzy was set off on Twitter. Extranet players pop champagne to celebrate this historic occasion. It's just that from the perspective of Caldecott, this resignation feels like a retirement rather than a "fired". Not only that, but he will also receive great rewards.
According to Activision Blizzard's previous financial data disclosure, Caldecott's shares in Activision Blizzard account for the highest proportion of about 4.3 million shares among the company's executives. This means that according to Microsoft's acquisition price of $95 per share, Caldeco will be able to cash out more than $400 million (about 2.8 billion yuan) at one time after leaving the company.
In addition, Caldecott will also receive more than 15 million US dollars (about 107 million yuan) in severance compensation called "Golden Parachute" when he leaves, so in the end Caldecott will leave with nearly 3 billion. For him, who is already in his sixties, it is time to enjoy life.
In an article published by foreign media PCGame on "How Bobby Caldecott is Chen Wei's "most hated person in the video game industry", the author commented on it:
In the eyes of employees and gamers alike, the CEO who has been at the helm of Activision Blizzard for many years often sacrifices the artistry of his work for profits, or makes mass layoffs to save money. However, Activision, which was on the verge of collapse in 1990, was also rescued by him, and the success of Activision Blizzard was inseparable from him. But in the eyes of investors, Caldek is an extremely successful entrepreneur.
When 2024 arrives, Activision Blizzard will change its helm for the first time. For the new year, players have many good expectations. However, after Caldecott's departure, it is still unknown whether Activision Blizzard will be able to return to the era when it was willing to listen to players and could continue to update valuable games, which is probably not determined by the will of a certain person.
So what do you think about this?