'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard to pay $35 million over U.S. SEC charges

FILE PHOTO: The Activision booth is shown at the E3 2017 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 13, 2017. REUTERS/ Mike Blake/File Photo

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -Activision Blizzard Inc has agreed to pay $35 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to have systems in place to properly handle disclosures of employee complaints and violated whistleblower protection rules, the regulator said on Friday.

The SEC said the company knew employee retention issues were "a particularly important risk in its business" but did not have adequate measures in place to manage workplace misconduct complaints across business units between 2018 and 2021.