It is being reported that Tony Petitti will be stepping down from his role as the president of sports and entertainment at Activision-Blizzard. This news was first reported by The Esports Observer.
Early reports indicate that Brandon Snow will be taking Petitti’s place. Snow previously served as the organization’s Chief Commercial Officer.
Petitti was brought onto the Activision-Blizzard team in August of 2020. Before that, he spent 12 years with Major League Baseball in various high-ranking executive positions.
“Activision Blizzard and Tony Petitti, President of Sports and Entertainment, have parted ways. In connection with Tony’s departure, we may invest in a venture which is unrelated to esports but cannot share details at this time,” a company spokesperson told The Esports Observer. “Brandon Snow, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, will assume leadership of Activision Blizzard Esports as we continue to focus on driving the momentum around our current seasons of Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues and delivering the absolute best experiences to our fans around the world. We remain committed to the future of esports and being a leading player in this growing industry.”
The Profit‘s Take:
This was a very high-profile hire and one they never should have made. It was obvious this wasn’t a fit and yet another example of continued poor decision making and bad management at Activision Blizzard. Someone from MLB will always be the wrong person to grow esports. The article mentions a potential investment in connection with Tony’s departure, which is unrelated to esports, but they share no details at all. I am VERY curious to see what this ends up being. It’s awfully vague for such a large, public company and probably just a face-saving measure. Either way, this hire was doomed from the beginning. Unfortunately, it looks like there is starting to be a trend here of executives leaving or stepping down from the company which is not a good look for one of the biggest global brands in gaming.
(All information was provided by The Esports Observer)
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