Business

Activision Blizzard sued for allegedly “misleading” shareholders over California lawsuit

byBill Cooney
Blizzard Entertainment

Blizzard has found itself slapped with another lawsuit, this time from shareholders. They say the publisher failed to inform them of the ongoing issues and accuses them of being “false and misleading.”

Blizzard continues to navigate legal action brought before them with new lawsuit on August 3. According to a report from Kotaku, a new suit has now been filed against the company. Filed on behalf of shareholders, it accuses Blizzard of keeping the reasons and issues for the first lawsuit secret, to let stock value continue to rise.

activison blizzard employee protest.The Verge
Activision Blizzard employees protest after the first lawsuit is announced.
The news of the lawsuit broke the same day as Blizzard’s Q2 earnings call; which happened after days of declining stock prices related to the lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Since the news of the latest lawsuit came out, stock price has been steadily falling, and shareholders who filed the suit claim they wouldn’t have invested if they’d had the details. While at the same time they also accuse Blizzard executives of trying to keep things under wraps.

The Rosen Law Firm, which is filing the case on behalf of investors, might be a familiar name if you’ve paid attention to video game litigation in 2021. They’re the ones handling a case against CD Projekt Red following the release of Cyberpunk 2077, as well.

Activison Blizzard Execs in the crosshairs

Jordan Matter, Flickr
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is personally named in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs for Blizzard’s latest lawsuit can be anyone who traded the company’s stock in recent years. More specifically, anyone who did between August 4, 2016 and July 27, 2021.

This latest suit from doesn’t just take aim Activision Blizzard as defendant either, but also CEO Bobby Kotick, CFO Dennis Durkin, and former CFO Spencer Neumann. According to the Rosen Firm, these three executives were “instrumental in the spreading of false information,” as reported by Kotaku. This is a developing story and we’ll update this piece with more info when it becomes available.