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Activision Blizzard

OVERALL

Owned
USA
Rating
Criticisms

Video game holding company

Activision and World of Warcraft producer Blizzard Entertainment merged in 2006, and acquired Candy Crush Saga maker King, and e-sports specialist Major League Gaming in 2015. One of the world's largest video games companies.

Activision Blizzard Inc   USA     website   email   facebook   twitter

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE CRITICISM INFORMATION
Activision Blizzard Inc
Social 100% on Corporate Equality Index
This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2020)
Business Ethics 13/100 S&P Global ESG Score
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 13/100 in the Interactive Media Services & Home Entertainment category of the 2019 SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices. The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2019)
Business Ethics 0.0% in Newsweek Green Ranking 2017
This company received a score of 0/100 in the Newsweek Green Ranking 2017, which ranks the world's largest publicly traded companies on eight indicators covering energy, greenhouse gases, water, waste, fines and penalties, linking executive pay to sustainability targets, board-level committee oversight of environmental issues and third-party audits. Ranking methodology by Corporate Knights and HIP Investor.
Source: Newsweek (2017)
Business Ethics Fined for underpaying artists
In 2017 a California judge approved a US$1.5 million settlement to resolve class action claims that senior artists for the this company were wrongly classified as exempt and thus shortchanged on overtime.
Source: Law360 (2017)
Business Ethics Excessive CEO pay
As You Sow's 2020 report, 'The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs', reveals the 100 most overpaid CEOs from USA's 500 largest public companies (as determined by the S&P 500 list). This company's CEO, Robert Kotick came in at number 19 on the list, having been paid US$30,841,004 in 2019. According to the report, "Most CEOs have come to be grossly overpaid, and that overpayment is harmful to the companies, the shareholders, the customers, the other employees, the economy, and society as a whole."
Source: As You Sow (2020)
Business Ethics Tax avoidance
A 2019 report by TaxWatch UK reveals how Activision Blizzard has moved billions of dollars of profit into tax havens. The multinational company has a complex structure with subsidiaries in a number of tax havens including Malta, the Netherlands, Barbados and Bermuda. The company is currently under investigation by tax authorities in the UK, Sweden and France over alleged transfer pricing irregularities and is facing a potential bill of over $1.1bn in back taxes and penalties.
Source: TaxWatch UK (2019)
Business Ethics CEO Pay Ratio of 319:1
In 2019 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$94,308. The CEO was paid 319 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.
Source: AFL-CIO (2020)
Business Ethics 42.8% at JUST Capital
JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2021 rankings the public identified 19 issues, which are organised under the headings Workers, Communities, Customers, Shareholders and Environment. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 671th of 928 companies, and 21th of 38 Household Goods & Apparel companies.
Source: JUST Capital (2020)
Social Mistreating employees
In 2020 Kotaku interviewed 11 current and former employees at Activision's Treyarch studio, who develops the hugely successful Call of Duty game series. They described a company in which contractors, and particularly testers, feel like they're perceived and treated as inferior. Some say they worked 70 hours per week for over a year, for US$13 per hour. Meanwhile Activision's CFO received a $21 million cash and stock bonus. Last minute changes to the game brought on what one developer described as "perpetual crunch", particularly for the testers.
Source: Kotaku (2019)
Social Modern Slavery statement
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: Modern Slavery Registry (2020)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type Public company
Revenue US$6.5 billion in 2019
Employees 9,200 in 2109
Subsidiaries Activation Blizzard Pty Ltd 

Video games

Contact Details

Address Santa Monica, California, USA
Website activisionblizzard.com

Products / Brands

Activision Blizzard
Bubble Witch Saga Mobile Games
Call of Duty Action Games
Call of Duty Multiplayer Games
Candy Crush Saga Mobile Games
Crash Bandicoot Platform Games
Crash Team Racing Racing Games
Diablo Action Games
Diablo Role-playing Games
Guitar Hero Other Video Games
Hearthstone Other Video Games
Overwatch Action Games
Overwatch Multiplayer Games
Skylanders Platform Games
Spyro Platform Games
StarCraft Strategy Games
Tony Hawk's Sports Games
Warcraft Multiplayer Games


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