Chacko Sonny, a popular high-level Blizzard employee who’s helped shepherd the Overwatch franchise, is leaving the company.
The news of Sonny’s departure comes via Bloomberg games reporter Jason Schreier—it was apparently announced internally by e-mail last Friday.
Sonny’s departure is the latest in a series of high-profile exits from the Irvine-based game developer, though it seems unrelated to an escalating series of lawsuits against Activision Blizzard for allegedly fostering a culture of toxicity and sexual harassment.
Anonymous Blizzard employees speaking to Bloomberg said they are unaware of any allegations of harassment or abuse against Sonny, and he was apparently widely liked among developers. An Activision Blizzard representative told Polygon that Sonny’s departure is so that he can “take some time off” after five years of producing Overwatch.
Sonny’s departure would be less notable if it didn’t follow the departure of former Overwatch 2 director Jeff Kaplan, the high-profile design face of Overwatch who left Blizzard in 2020. This now marks two high-profile departures from the team behind Blizzard’s most successful game since World of Warcraft.
Overwatch 2 is apparently in the “final stages of production,” and will be shown off at the Overwatch League Grand Finals later in September.