Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick voluntarily took a 50% reduction to his salary and a 50% reduction to his bonus in his latest employment agreement that extended his employment with Activision to 2023. The adjustment to his salary comes on the heels of recent controversy regarding Kotick's compensation after he received a massive bonus in March while Activision announced another round of layoffs. 

According to an SEC filing from Wednesday, Kotick extended his employment agreement with Activision to March 31, 2023 via an Extension Amendment in his empoyment contract. As part of the new agreement, the CEO and Compensation Committee agreed to reduce his base salary " to align with targets established at the bottom 25th percentile of the Company’s peer group." His target annual bonus was reduced by 50%, with a potential reduction of $1.75 million in total, pretax compensation for the years 2021 and 2022.

Kotick caused a stir in March, when it came to light that he reportedly received a $200 million USD cash payout based on a provision in his employment contract, while at the same time Blizzard was laying off hundreds of workers. Most notably, the CtW Investment Group, which is a corporate watch dog, soundly criticized the level of compensation.

"While the increase in Activision's stock price is somewhat commendable, as we stated last year and continue to assert, this achievement alone does not justify such a substantial pay outcome for the CEO," said Michael Varner, Director of Executive Compensation Research at the CtW Investment Group.

Although his total compensation will be lowered for the next couple of years, Kotick's finances won't be hurting too much. He is still going to make $875,000 a year and will be eligible for bonuses of 200% of that sum, on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars he has already acquired in the last year.