Activision Blizzard has removed its chief finance officer (CFO) Spencer Neumann and it looks like the finance veteran will be joining Netflix in the near future. Neumann’s role at the Activision Blizzard was terminated on Monday, with the company parting ways with him for unspecified reasons. Reports suggest that Neumann has been placed on paid leave until his termination is finalized.
The decision is apparently unrelated to Neumann’s performance as CFO, with Activision Blizzard citing his termination having nothing to do wit “financial reporting or disclosure controls and procedures.” It’s more likely that Neumann’s termination came after his rumored move to Netflix surfaced. And reports from Reuters have suggested that Neumann’s Netflix induction will be completed early this year, with Dennis Durkin taking over CFO duties at Activision Blizzard until Neumann’s termination is completed. There’s no specific date in place for Neumann to take over his CFO duties at Netflix and it all seems dependent on when his termination from Activision Blizzard is completed.
It’s been a strange time for Activision Blizzard lately, considering that the chat moderation feature that will require players to sign in to Twitch using a Battle.net account for the Overwatch League Contenders streams has been met with unease from fans. In addition, the fallout from Blizzcon late last year saw players arguing that the company is out of touch with its fanbase after the convention’s opening ceremony was used to announce a mobile Diablo game instead of a new mainline installment for the series.
We’ve already seen a fair bit of change with Blizzard in recent months, as long-standing CEO Mike Morhaime stepped down. Morhaime was replaced by J. Allen Brack. It’s difficult to say whether all these changes and supposed missteps in its game announcements will have any longstanding effects for the publisher, but it’s clear that Activision Blizzard is in a state of flux at the moment.
