Overwatch series executive producer and Overwatch 2 development head, Chacko Sonny is leaving Activision Blizzard, according to Bloomberg via an internal email.
In the email, Sonny informed his colleagues that he would be departing from the company, which Bloomberg says he will leave at the end of the week. The departure is the latest key talent to leave the company following Activision Blizzard’s alleged sexual harassment and discrimination investigations from the state of California and recently one from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
An Activision Blizzard spokesperson confirmed Sonny’s departure to Polygon but didn’t delve into the reason behind his departure. There was no mention of the lawsuits and investigations the company is currently facing. Bloomberg added from several anonymous Blizzard employees that Sonny was well-respected and, as far as they knew, no allegations were made against the former executive producer.
“Chacko Sonny is leaving Blizzard to take some time off after 5 years of service. The deep, talented Overwatch team is making excellent progress on Overwatch 2,” Activision Blizzard said in a statement.
“And thanks to their hard work, the game is in the final stages of production. We’ll be sharing more at the Overwatch League Grand Finals later this month.”
Sonny was not just in charge of the Overwatch series but was a contributing lead for the development of Overwatch 2 which helped greatly, especially after director, Jeff Kaplan left the company earlier this year. Sonny’s replacement hasn’t been decided only that the upcoming sequel was in the “final stages of production.”
Sonny’s departure comes after other high-level departures from the company which include former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack, SVP of global HR Jesse Meschuk and most recently chief legal officer Claire Hart. Other individuals on the development side include Diablo IV Director Luis Barriga, Lead Designer Jesse McCree and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft who were dismissed a few weeks later after the initial lawsuit.
