Activision Blizzard, Inc.
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Leadership History
6 leaders · Full leadership timeline
Activision Blizzard is less a single studio than a portfolio of game-making systems: Activision builds high-frequency blockbuster shooters, Blizzard operates deep PC and online universes, and King runs mobile games at global scale. Microsoft bought that portfolio because gaming is increasingly about owned franchises, subscriptions, mobile reach, cloud access, and platform engagement.
Activision Blizzard makes money from premium game sales, in-game purchases, battle passes, downloadable content, World of Warcraft subscriptions, mobile in-app purchases, advertising, licensing, and platform distribution. Before Microsoft, its strongest model was recurring digital spending around Call of Duty, Blizzard games, and Candy Crush. Inside Xbox, the same assets also support Game Pass, cloud gaming, PC distribution, console engagement, and Microsoft's broader multi-device gaming strategy.
CEO, Microsoft Gaming / Xbox
Leads Microsoft's gaming business, including Xbox studios and the Activision, Blizzard, and King portfolio.
EVP and Chief Content Officer, Microsoft Gaming
Oversees Microsoft's gaming content organization across Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King studios.
President, Activision
Leads Activision Publishing and the Call of Duty business inside the broader Microsoft-owned portfolio.
President, Blizzard Entertainment
Leads Blizzard Entertainment after the Microsoft acquisition, with a focus on Blizzard's communities, franchises, and studio culture.
Former CEO, Activision Blizzard
Built Activision Blizzard through acquisitions, franchise management, and the eventual sale to Microsoft.
Co-founder and former CEO, Blizzard Entertainment
Helped establish Blizzard's creative culture and leadership during the rise of Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, and World of Warcraft.
Activision Blizzard's main challenges are franchise concentration, live-service fatigue, mobile competition, regulatory scrutiny, workplace culture repair, and the difficulty of integrating creative studios into a much larger technology platform. The company must keep Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Diablo, Warcraft, and Overwatch culturally relevant while Microsoft balances subscriptions, cross-platform commitments, cloud access, and studio autonomy.
Bobby Kotick was Activision Blizzard's last independent public-company CEO and stayed through the Microsoft acquisition transition.
Asha Sharma became CEO of Microsoft Gaming in 2026, with Microsoft noting that Microsoft Gaming is now known as Xbox.
Rob Kostich is listed by Activision as President and leads Activision Publishing.
Johanna Faries became President of Blizzard Entertainment in February 2024.
The leadership history explains the move from a standalone publisher to a Microsoft-owned content portfolio inside Xbox.