Blizzard’s first new president under Microsoft’s ownership is Johanna Faries, who previously served as the general manager of Call of Duty as part of Activision.
Faries joined Activision in 2018 as the publisher’s commissioner for Call of Duty esports, and later became the general manager for the Call of Duty franchise, a title she’s held for close to three years. Prior to working at Activision, Fairies spent over a decade working at the NFL, where she served first as the NFL’s director of consumer products and licensing, and later as VP of marketing strategy and fan development. She briefly served as its VP of club business development before joining Activision.
She replaces Mike Ybarra as Blizzard president, who recently stepped down amidst mass layoffs at Activision and Blizzard that saw more than 1,900 employees lose their jobs. In an email sent to all Blizzard employees, Fairies acknowledged the recent layoffs, noting that “the loss of talented teammates in recent days is hard to hold side-by-side with the immense excitement I feel about joining Blizzard.”