Activision Blizzard reportedly loses its Head of Esports

As the planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft creeps closer to reality, the Call of Duty and Overwatch developer has taken a big hit in its esports department.

The details: It's well known that changes are to come for Activision Blizzard, but its esports department had already been hit with plenty of changes in recent years.

• According to Sports Business Journal, Brandon Snow will depart his role of Head of Esports at Activision Blizzard at the end of February.
• Snow was promoted to take on the responsibilities of the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League in July 2021 when Johanna Faries moved to become General Manager of the CoD franchise.
• Before joining Activision Blizzard in 2018, where he is said to have led negotiations to bring in sponsors such as Coca-Cola for the Overwatch League, he worked at the NBA for 10 years in several roles related to marketing and business development.

The future: Change is afoot for the developer of Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero, Spyro, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and other popular franchises.

• SBJ's report states that Activision Blizzard's Chief Administrative Officer Brian Bulatao will take on many of Snow's tasks, while Daniel Tsay and Sean Miller will lead the day-to-day operations for the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League, respectively.
• Should the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft go ahead, it's been promised that there will be "change" in the company so the "right people" are in positions of power. The antitrust review of the proposed transaction will be handled by the FTC, according to Bloomberg, to decide whether the purchase would be harmful to competition in the video games landscape.
• Viewership, owner sentiment, and the general competitive player base have all been pretty negative with one of Activision Blizzard's flagship esports titles: Call of Duty. With the 12 partnered teams buying into the league for $25M, paying off the sum over the coming years, pressure will be on to get CoD Esports trending in the right direction with this year's upcoming title, Modern Warfare 2. There's uncertainty aplenty at the Overwatch League, too.