(Bloomberg) -- Activision Blizzard Inc., the big video-game maker, promoted three executives and expanded their duties following the departure of several senior staffers, including the company's chief financial officer.
Rob Kostich, who led development of the Call of Duty franchise for 10 years, will become president of Activision publishing, the company said Wednesday. Humam Sakhnini was elevated to president of King Digital, the unit that makes Candy Crush and other mobile games, from CFO of that division previously. Dennis Durkin, who became corporate CFO last week after Spencer Neumann left for a similar post at Netflix Inc., will also serve as president of emerging businesses, including esports, film and TV production, and consumer products.
The moves are intended to add stability following departures in the past year that include the heads of both the Activision and Blizzard units. The company, the largest standalone maker of video games in the U.S., has seen sales slow in several key products and is looking ahead to what some analysts say is a light slate of new releases this year. The company has been recruiting heavily outside of the video-game world to expand its revenue opportunities.
Activision shares have declined 23 percent in the past year. They were up 1.5 percent to $50.71 Wednesday in New York.
In October, longtime producer J. Allen Brack was named president of Blizzard, which makes games including World of Warcraft and Overwatch.
“Rob, Humam, Dennis and J. exemplify our deep bench of operational and commercial leadership,” Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick said Wednesday. “These capable and seasoned executives have shown unwavering commitment to our company, our employees, and our beloved community of fans around the world.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum
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