Activision Blizzard, Inc. 
NFL 
Activision Blizzard had big plans for its inaugural season of the Call of Duty League (CDL) in 2020. Those plans focused largely on in-person events, with teams traveling from city to city, where fans could cheer on their favorite franchises from packed arenas.The coronavirus pandemic had other ideas.As lockdown orders spread across the U.S., the CDL (and its sister league, the Overwatch League) had to quickly pivot, moving to an online-only format in March. In addition to the adjustment to...
Activision Blizzard, Inc.
Johanna
Faries
SVP / General Manager, Call of Duty
After establishing the Call of Duty League during her tenure as esports head, Faries took over the entire “Call of Duty” brand in 2021, presiding over its highly popular free-to-play “Warzone” experience and annual mainline entries. The latest title, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II,” released in October and crossed $1 billion in sales within 10 days, the fastest title yet to do so in the franchise. While Microsoft has pledged it will commit to the current system of annual mainline titles for three years if its planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard is completed, Faries will still get to lead the strategy of one of the most popular series of console games ever in a new era for the Western publisher should the deal go through. That means the franchise could potentially expand beyond just annual releases and “Warzone,” adding far more to the 425 million lifetime sales it surpassed in June 2022.
