Activision Blizzard’s Chief Marketing Officer has left the company

Activision Blizzard's former Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Fernando Machado, has left the company and is the second C-level executive to leave in the past month.

The details:

• Machado announced on his LinkedIn page that he will be leaving the Call of Duty (COD) publisher to join the marketing team at food-tech company NotCo, as reported by CharlieIntel. Before joining Activision Blizzard in April 2021, he worked for large corporations such as Unilever and Restaurant Brands International, the owners of Burger King and Popeyes. Machado has directed the marketing efforts for the publisher's biggest franchises, including COD, Overwatch, and Warcraft, with solid success, as 2022's Modern Warfare II has become the franchise's fastest-selling title.
• Machado is the second C-level executive to leave the company in the past month, with former Chief Operating Officer (COO) Daniel Alegre resigning to become Chief Executive Officer of blockchain company Yuga Labs (CEO). According to an 8K filing, Alegre left the company to pursue "another opportunity" elsewhere, though some speculate that these two recent departures may be related to Microsoft's ongoing efforts to acquire Activision Blizzard in some way. If the acquisition is successful, Microsoft may eliminate the current executive positions if it chooses to use its existing staff to cover the publisher's operations.
• Regulators seem likely to approve the Activision Blizzard deal in the coming months despite Sony's efforts to block the acquisition. The tech giant has just signed two more 10-year partnerships, this time with cloud-gaming providers Boosteroid and Ubitus, to bring Xbox's PC titles as well as Activision Blizzard games to its service after the company is acquired. This follows Microsoft's agreements with Nintendo and Nvidia to bring COD and other games to their respective platforms, as well as the company's offer to Sony to include the series in its PlayStation Plus service, which Sony has declined on multiple occasions.

Other Activision Blizzard news:

• Microsoft has already begun planning the future of the COD franchise, beginning with COD Mobile. The company has revealed that it plans to "phase out" the title in favor of Warzone Mobile in all territories except China. It’s unknown whether the 6v6 multiplayer component of COD Mobile will be added to Warzone Mobile, as the game is still massively popular and could benefit from the better performance of the newer engine.
• Activision Blizzard has confirmed that full-time remote work is being abolished for its QA teams, forcing employees to return to its physical office spaces or face losing their jobs. The move was met with backlash from employees due to increased costs of living in the current economy, making it unviable for many to move back to the inner city areas in which the offices are located.