Activision Blizzard settles SEC charges for $35 million

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

Government regulators announced Friday that videogame maker Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges that it failed to maintain controls to collect and assess workplace complaints with regard to disclosure requirements and violated a federal whistleblower protection rule. In paying the settlement, Activision neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings and agreed to a cease-and-desist order, the agency said. Friday’s settlement comes after the troubled Santa Monica, California-based gaming company settled with U.S. workplace regulators in 2021 over employee complaints about sexual harassment. Activision Blizzard is the company behind the Candy Crush and Call of Duty games.