Bobby Kotick's Law Firm Sent Threatening Legal Letter Over Already-Included Statement

On January 20, Game File received a four-page legal letter from Clare Locke, the law firm representing Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard. The letter threatened potential defamation liability and demanded corrections to an article published a week earlier.

The article in question covered a 2022 lawsuit brought by Swedish pension fund AP7 against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Game File had reported on Kotick's extensive pushback to the fund's claims, which centered on allegations that the sale was rushed to escape consequences from sexual misconduct scandals at the company in 2021.

Clare Locke's demand focused on one specific element: language from Activision Blizzard's 2023 settlement with California's Civil Rights Department. That settlement stated that no court or independent investigation had substantiated claims of systemic or widespread sexual harassment at the company, nor that senior executives ignored or condoned such behavior.

The law firm's letter invoked the legal standard of "actual malice" in libel cases, suggesting that failure to comply could support defamation claims. However, when Game File's editor reviewed the demand against the published article, the exact language Clare Locke was insisting be added was already present in the piece.

"How do you write a four page legal threat about a week-old article and miss this?" the editor wrote in response to the firm. The reply pointed out that the article already stated Kotick's position, and questioned what argument for actual malice could exist when the demanded statement already appeared in print.

Two hours later, Clare Locke responded. A lawyer for the firm stated they had "reviewed an incomplete version" of the article and apologized for the confusion. The editor's assessment was that someone at the firm likely had not read past the article's paywall during the week they had to obtain full access.

The matter did not end there. The legal letter had been marked "confidential," a designation the editor had not agreed to. On January 21, Game File's editor responded to Clare Locke, noting that while off-the-record agreements are standard in journalism, they require mutual agreement before communication begins. Unilateral confidentiality declarations, the editor argued, cannot be imposed.

Game File's editor emphasized the concern underlying this pushback: the principle that powerful figures should not be able to control what journalists tell their readers about their actions. The firm's lawyer replied without directly addressing the confidentiality issue but asserted that the matter was resolved.

Clare Locke is the law firm that secured a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News over false statements about voting machines. The firm has been known to email reporters in recent years about coverage of Kotick. This incident underscores ongoing tensions between legal representatives of prominent figures and independent journalists covering their clients.