Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard has recently hired Frances Townsend to be its vice president for corporate affairs. Activision Blizzard's board has appointed Townsend as its chief compliance officer and corporate secretary as well. The Call of Duty publisher, currently celebrating having the last three months' best-selling game, will be looking to leverage Townsend's international affairs experience to navigate the various games publishing requirements in markets around the globe.
Although Townsend has been out of the political sphere for quite some time now, she once worked in the Department of Homeland Security, serving as a deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism under President George W. Bush's administration. Before that she held positions in the Department of Justice under Presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush Sr. Townsend will be a valuable asset for a large, international publisher like Activision Blizzard, which has to take many different cultural and legislative factors into consideration when releasing a game across many regions.
As the games industry continues to grow, developers and publishers alike will have to pay more attention to and get involved in legislation more frequently. Just last August an executive order targeted Tencent, worrying the entire industry with he possibility that transactions with the Chinese tech conglomerate would be blocked. Townsend will have to monitor similar situations in her role at Activision Blizzard, since China represents the world's largest video game market according to the Wall Street Journal.
Frances Townsend's Role at Activision Blizzard
In a direct quote to the WSJ, Townsend said, "The most important thing we care about in terms of compliance [with international market regulations] is the protection of personal identifying information." Since the games industry is heavily reliant on the internet, hackers stealing players' personal information is a major concern. Tech companies were under scrutiny last year by the Trump administration, which believed companies with Chinese investors posed potential threats to national security. Tencent would have been a major target of this investigation, since it owns stakes in Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, and Riot Games, among other United States-based video game companies.
Townsend also told the Wall Street Journal that loot boxes would be an area of concern for her. Loot boxes as a predatory form of gambling have come under fire recently, especially the loot boxes in FIFA's Ultimate Team game mode. Loot boxes have been the subject of lawsuits and congressional deliberations. It's no surprise Activision Blizzard would want someone familiar with the inner workings of Washington to oversee such things.
Townsend's involvement in such matters won't be for the benefit of the average gamer however. Corporate interests are clearly the most important factor when she tells the WSJ, "it's important that we are involved in the conversation as regulations are being considered. Often legislators are legislating on things they're not entirely familiar with, and when they do that it can have consequences that they didn't intend." Activision Blizzard is likely primarily interested in engaging with legislators for the sole purpose of protecting its profits gained from the widespread problem of in-game microtransactions. Games industry executives wouldn't want their lucrative IPs like Call of Duty to become less profitable.
Source: Wall Street Journal