Bobby Kotick has been CEO of Activision Blizzard since 1991 and has helped transform the company into one of the most influential players in video games.
Kotick is responsible for Activision’s execs, who oversee five separate studios worldwide, including Treyarch and Infinity Ward — two of the best game developers in the industry today. He’s also a key player in Influencer Marketing, with initiatives like Destiny 2: The Dawning that has guaranteed A+ coverage on social media. And he’s poised to make more waves with upcoming deals with movie studios to turn popular games like Call of Duty into blockbuster movies.
It may seem surprising that an executive from a gaming company became involved in Hollywood — but Kotick was always ambitious. In 2005 the company merged with Vivendi Games; Kotick became CEO, and his role as entertainment mogul was born.
That year, Vivendi bought a majority stake in Marvel Entertainment for $5.8 billion. But by 2013, the parent company was struggling and looking for ways to monetize its property. Negotiations between Kotick and Disney kicked off, ultimately leading to a deal that would bring Iron Man and Captain America into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“It was a huge deal,” says Kotick. “Not only did we have Captain America and Iron Man in there, but we had Spider-Man and all of the Avengers — we had Black Panther, the Wakanda stuff coming out. It was a big deal to get our property in there a few years ago. Refer to this article to learn more.
Two years later, it was time to strike again — with Sony Pictures. After missing out on original IP rights to Spider-Man and Spider-Man characters for decades, Sony agreed to make an ambitious movie studio deal with Marvel Studios. The agreement included more than 60 Marvel characters; director Jon Favreau signed on with Marvel to helm the first film.
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