Activision hires Microsoft's Durkin as CFO

Activision Blizzard has hired Dennis Durkin away from Microsoft -- where he was corporate VP, COO, and CFO at the company's Interactive Entertainment Business -- as its new chief financial officer. Durkin had worked at Microsoft for 12 years, most recently at its games division, and oversaw acquisitions, coordinated global business development activities, managed profits and losses, and handled its third-party games portfolio. He will now report to Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick, and oversee the publisher's financial matters. Durkin replaces chief operating officer Thomas Tippl, who has been serving as CFO on an interim basis since 2010. Tippl will remain in his COO role and continue to manage Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment's operational activities, as well as the company's Strategic Planning, Global Sales and Supply Chain, IT, Legal, and Human Resources departments. "With the expansion of digital entertainment, this is an exciting time to partner with the company's senior leaders to continue to drive future growth and increase shareholder value," says Durkin. Microsoft has appointed Mitchell Koch, the corporate vice president of its Worldwide Retail Sales and Marketing Group for the Entertainment and Devices Division, as its new CFO for the Interactive Entertainment Business unit, effective March 19.