Activision Blizzard Hires Daniel Alegre as President and Chief Operating Officer

Google veteran Daniel Alegre will join Activision Blizzard as its new president and chief operating officer, the Santa Monica-based game publisher announced Wednesday.

Alegre served at Google in various roles for 16 years (most recently head of global retail, shopping, and payments), and will begin his new role on April 7.

Activision’s personnel change comes shortly after a lackluster 2019 earnings report, which saw the company’s revenue drop by $1 billion annually. Amid growing competition from mobile and free-to-play games, Activision is struggling to retain the vice grip it once had on the gaming market. Alegre’s proven track record of leading Google’s international sales teams — including operations in Asia and Latin America — could be an advantage as the publisher looks to regain its footing.

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Alegre said in a statement provided to TheWrap that he believes “Activision Blizzard is at an exciting point in its history…. In addition to a deep library of owned and internationally beloved franchises, the company has tremendous talent that has built a culture committed to inspiration and creativity.

“More importantly, through thoughtful and creative games, it connects and engages over 400 million people around the world through epic entertainment. I look forward to helping players around the world connect through quality and immersive games,” Alegre added.

Alegre succeeds Activision’s current COO and President, Coddy Johnson, who will stay at the company as a special advisor to Chief Executive Bobby Kotick.

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Kotick stated he “was deeply impressed by Daniel’s entrepreneurial drive and broad and deep experience in driving global growth across a variety of businesses in a rapidly changing industry,” and added that Activision’s “greatest challenges are prioritizing the many opportunities we have and recruiting and retaining the talent needed to execute with focus and excellence.”

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