Nintendo Boss Slams Activision Blizzard Following “Distressing and Disturbing” Reports of Toxic Workplace Culture

The last week has been a turbulent one for Activision Blizzard, with reports shedding further light on the increasingly toxic workplace culture of the company, allegedly perpetuated by CEO Bobby Kotick himself. Many in the industry have publicly spoken out against the company in light of these reports, with the bosses at platform holders PlayStation and Xbox chief amongst them. Now, Nintendo has spoken up as well.

As reported by Fanbyte, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser recently sent out an email to all NoA employees in which he criticized the company’s practices in the wake of recent “distressing and disturbing” reports. The contents of these emails were later confirmed to be factual by a Nintendo representative.

Bowser wrote: “Along with all of you, I’ve been following the latest developments with Activision Blizzard and the ongoing reports of sexual harassment and toxicity at the company. I find these accounts distressing and disturbing. They run counter to my values as well as Nintendo’s beliefs, values and policies.”

Later in the email, Bowser explained that Nintendo leadership have been “in contact with Activision, have taken action and are assessing others”. Though he did not elaborate on what these actions are, he did explain that the company has been working with the ESA in order to take steps against troubling industry-wide practices. He wrote: “Every company in the industry must create an environment where everyone is respected and treated as equals, and where all understand the consequences of not doing so.”

The reaction within Activision Blizzard itself has been loud in recent weeks and months as well. Following recent reports, there have been several calls for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick, not only from thousands of company employees, but also from a group of shareholders that is also demanding restructuring within the Board of Directors. Recently, Bobby Kotick allegedly said in an internal meeting that he would consider resigning if he was unable to quickly fix the company’s problems. Read more on that through here.