“I’m so incredibly proud of our teams for their commitment and passion as we continued to engage the world through epic entertainment in 2021,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “As we look to the future, with Microsoft’s scale and resources, we will be better equipped to grow existing franchises, launch new potential franchises and unlock the rich library of games we have assembled over 40 years. Our 370 million players around the world and workplace excellence remain our focus. For investors, our recently announced transaction is the culmination of three decades of providing superior shareholder returns.”
Growing our developer base remains a strategic priority for the company. We continued to increase our developer headcount in the fourth quarter and added hundreds of talented professionals in 2021. Our teams are executing against an exciting pipeline of content planned for 2022. Activision expects to drive renewed expansion in the Call of Duty® franchise later in the year with groundbreaking all-new experiences. Blizzard is planning substantial new content for key franchises, and King expects to build on its momentum with further innovative live operations across its portfolio.
Activision Blizzard is committed to ensuring an inclusive and safe working environment for its employees, and in the fourth quarter continued to implement previously announced initiatives to strengthen its practices and policies. The company also announced the conversion of nearly 500 temporary workers to full-time employees at Activision Publishing studios, along with securing increased wages and expanded paid time off benefits for a large portion of temporary workers.
