Activision Blizzard makes three new major leadership appointments

Activision Blizzard has made appointments for three leadership positions, with all of them coming from within the company. Activision Blizzard is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world. It publishes giant hits like Call of Duty and owns Overwatch and World of Warcraft developer Blizzard. It also owns Candy Crush Saga studio King.

Rob Kostich has served as Call of Duty’s executive vice president and general manager for 10 years. He is now president of Activision. Call of Duty has become one of the most successful game franchises in history. The first-person shooter series regularly puts out a top-seller every year. In total, Kostich has been with Activision for 15 years.

Humam Sakhnini has become president of King Digital Entertainment. He had served as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer of the mobile developer since 2016. King is the studio behind the hit puzzle series Candy Crush. Activision Blizzard bought King for $5.9 billion in 2016.

Dennis Durkin recently returned to his position as Activision Blizzard’s chief financial officer, a role he held from 2012 to 2017. He became CFO again after the company recently fired Spencer Neumann from position. Durkin will still hold that role, but he will also serve as president of emerging business.

Blizzard’s CFO also recently left the company to work at Square. The departure of two CFOs from the company in such a short amount of time raised eyebrows in the industry. Recent reports, including the studio’s cutbacks for Heroes of the Storm and one from Kotaku in December, suggest that the company is attempting to cut costs.