At Activision's internal meeting—inexplicably hosted by James Corden—Bobby Kotick promises a 'new dimension of emotional connection' powered by AI

CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, speaks onstage during "Managing Excellence: Getting Consistently Great Results" at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 19, 2016 in San Francisco, California.
(Image credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images)

As reported by Windows Central, sources have shared the inside details of an internal townhall yesterday between Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Activision-Blizzard employees.

This was apparently hosted by James Corden. In case you're not familiar, Corden's known for his role in beloved british sitcom Gavin and Stacey, movies like Into the Woods hosting The Late Late Show, and disrupting traffic to promote Cinderella by hip thrusting in a mouse outfit.

So, perhaps a bizarre choice—but sure. James Corden hosted an internal town hall at Activision-Blizzard. Stranger things have happened. Somewhere. Presumably.

Kotick spoke to Corden about how the company's leadership culture—one he described as "magic" and "special"—would continue. The CEO also spoke on the future of AI in Activision's future games: "If you look at the new technologies that are on the horizon, we're going to be able to do things that we've never done before with AI and machine learning … We have characters on the screen and video games [with] mouth movements and facial animation that is realistic—you're going to have a new dimension of emotional connection that we've not yet mastered."

I am not exactly sure how AI—specifically, machine learning stuff—has anything to do with realistic animation. Some of the best physical acting we've seen as of late has been from Baldur's Gate 3, which was achieved through motion capture of over 200 actors, which animators then translated fully into the game. 

There's a lot of techno wizardry going on to achieve that, but part of me wonders if Kotick's mixing his terms here. Granted, AI could nix a lot of the busywork in the right hands (2018's Into the Spiderverse used some machine learning to that effect) so I can see a future where AI helps the clean-up process.

On the other hand, realistic graphics aren't required for emotional connection. Some of the most heartfelt, tear-jerking stories have come from indie games on shoestring budgets, achieved by humble pixels. Still, AI is definitely going to form a part of Activision-Blizzard's creative makeup in the future, considering they've already patented their own in-house systems

Kotick also highlighted Elon Musk's neuralink as an example of technological advancement he's keen to see develop. "I talked a little earlier about the physical experience of interacting with something on screen. I think you'll see things like Neuralink—you'll actually be able to interact with things on the screen, where there isn't a controller … I just see unlimited potential for what we do."

I'm personally pretty happy with my mouse and keyboard—maybe a headset—over Musk's bright future of brain chips, but who knows. Maybe when everyone's playing Diablo 6 in full-immersion VR in 2030, and we're all able to pull on the individual hairs of Lorath's beard, I'll be eating my digitised NFT hat. 

Either way, it's full steam ahead on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard after the appeasement of UK regulators last month, and the company's speaking to its employees as such—using James Corden of all people, a host whose reputation plummeted prior to the end of The Late Late Show earlier this year.

Kotick, meanwhile, continues to have an antagonistic relationship with parts of the company he runs, saying in May of this year that allegations of systemic sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard were the product of a "very aggressive labor movement working hard to try and destabilize the company." Those allegations, in part contained within a 2021 California lawsuit, led among other things to resignations, firings, employee walkouts, and the formation of the ABK Workers Alliance, a group of employees that has directly called for Kotick's replacement.

Harvey Randall
Staff Writer

Harvey's history with games started when he first begged his parents for a World of Warcraft subscription aged 12, though he's since been cursed with Final Fantasy 14-brain and a huge crush on G'raha Tia. He made his start as a freelancer, writing for websites like Techradar, The Escapist, Dicebreaker, The Gamer, Into the Spine—and of course, PC Gamer. He'll sink his teeth into anything that looks interesting, though he has a soft spot for RPGs, soulslikes, roguelikes, deckbuilders, MMOs, and weird indie titles. He also plays a shelf load of TTRPGs in his offline time. Don't ask him what his favourite system is, he has too many.

Read more
CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, speaks onstage during "Managing Excellence: Getting Consistently Great Results" at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 19, 2016 in San Francisco, California.
Bobby Kotick reckons the Warcraft film was 'a terrible idea' for Blizzard, and in the end 'was one of the worst movies I've ever seen'
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach concept art
'The dream of the tech industry is to sell off your company at an overinflated price and retire,' says actor behind Baldur's Gate 3's Karlach, 'And I feel that's being done with game studios right now'
Vice President, Games at Netflix Mike Verdu speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt 2022 on October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, California
4 short months after saying 'We'll have to adapt and change', Netflix's AI games VP adapts and changes into a person who isn't working there anymore
A zombie santa with six fingers leaps at the screen.
Call of Duty admits it's using generative AI to 'help develop some in-game assets', and suddenly all those poorly made calling cards make sense
Bobby Kotick in 2008, after the Vivendi merger that made Activision into Activision Blizzard.
Bobby Kotick says he'd never have raised World of Warcraft's subscription by even a dollar because 'it's a prickly audience, you don't wanna do too much to agitate them'
Microsoft Muse-generated gaming in action
'A massive, massive moment of wow.' Microsoft CEO predicts AI-generated games are a 'CGI moment' for the industry
Latest in Gaming Industry
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
Typing on internet search toolbar: What am I doing?
How a Microsoft exec managed to pitch Microsoft Word through the genius tactic of being able to actually use it in a 'type-off' demanded by clients: 'I was the only one who'd actually been a secretary'
Half-Life wallpaper - Gordon Freeman
Former Valve exec says the company struggled to sell Half-Life until coming up with the ultimate 'one simple trick' of marketing manoeuvres: slapping a 'Game of the Year' sticker on the box
Gabe Newell looks into the camera, behind him is a prop of a turret from Team Fortress 2.
Gabe Newell's cult of personality is intense, but a Valve exec who worked with him says his superpower is how he 'delighted in people on the team just being really good at what they did'
The Spy from Team Fortress 2 holds up a folder with an accusatory expression.
One of Valve's original executives shares a very simple secret to its success: 'You can't use up your credibility' by trying to make bad games work
Latest in News
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year