Documents released by the US Department of Justice in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein case have reached the video game industry, with emails that mention Bobby Kotick, the former chief executive of Activision Blizzard.
What the documents show
Among the files is a 2015 email exchange between Kotick and the technology investor Pablos Holman in which Epstein was included. In the emails, Holman is reported to have praised Kotick’s ability to turn real-world ideas into in-game monetisation systems, and the thread discusses using reward systems to shape young players’ spending habits — described in the correspondence as a kind of “financial education”.
The exchange has attracted attention because of long-running criticism of the games industry over in-game purchases and loot boxes aimed at children.
No suggestion of a crime
Appearing in the Epstein files does not in itself imply wrongdoing, and nothing in the published emails suggests illegal conduct by Kotick or Activision. However, the correspondence has prompted renewed debate about how the industry approached monetisation aimed at young players.
An Xbox ban
Other documents in the files show that Microsoft’s Xbox Live service banned an account linked to Epstein in 2013. The enforcement notice cited “harassment, threats and/or abuse”, and came after Microsoft updated its policies on accounts linked to convicted sex offenders.
Activision today
Microsoft completed its $68.7 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard in October 2023. Kotick, who had led the company for more than three decades, stepped down at the end of that year, shortly after the deal closed.
Since the late 2010s, regulators in several countries have tightened rules on loot boxes and in-game spending by minors, and major publishers have changed their practices in response, although campaigners argue that more needs to be done.
