Bobby Kotick, the chief executive of Activision Blizzard, had participated in the CNBC Evolve conference earlier this week and answered a few questions during an on-stage interview, including his experiences with many CEOs having to lead on a variety of subjects, that vary from Hong Kong and democracy to gaming additions and beyond.
Bobby Kotick answered with the following:
“Well, you start with, our mission as a company is “Bringing the World Together Through Epic Entertainment.” You know, that’s a big mission. It has some similarities to, let’s say, a Facebook. But, you know, we’re not the operator of the world’s town halls. We’re the operator of the communities that allow you to have fun through the lens of a video game.”
“My responsibility is to make sure that our communities feel safe, secure, comfortable and satisfied and entertained. And so I don’t — I don’t — that doesn’t convey to me the right to have a platform for a lot of political views, I don’t think. I think my responsibility is to satisfy our audiences and our stakeholders, our employees, our shareholders.”
“But I think there are some business people who are incredible examples of character and integrity and principle and have what you see are the great attributes of leadership, and I think that they are incredibly inspiring for me. But I think, you know, they do have the right to articulate views and visions and voices about government and policy and politics, and I love engaging with those people.”