Activision Blizzard names veteran Google exec Daniel Alegre as president and COO

Activision Blizzard has named veteran Google executive Daniel Alegre as its new president and chief operating officer. 

In his new role, Alegre will over see the Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, and King Digital Entertainment businesses, and will report directly to CEO Bobby Kotick. 

He'll officially take on the mantle on April 7, 2020, replacing outgoing president and COO Coddy Johnson, who's held the role since 2017 and will stay on at the company as a 'special advisor to the CEO.'

Before joining Activision, Alegre spent over 16 years at Google, helping the company diversify beyond advertising as president of global retail and shopping, and prior to that working across all of Google's core business lines to form strategic relationships as the president of global and strategic partnerships. 

He also oversaw Google's Asia Pacific and Japan businesses as president, and opened the company's first operation in China, Southeast Asia, and India. 

Weighing in on his new job at Activision, the veteran exec said he's looking forward to "helping players around the world connect through quality and immersive games."