Geoff Keighley has gone on record to state that Activision Blizzard 'will not be a part' of this year's awards, beyond two nominations for Call of Duty, which gets underway in a few days time.

Posting on Twitter, Keighley stated that "there is no place for abuse, harassment or predatory practices in any company or any community. I also realize we have a big platform which can accelerate and inspire change.  We are committed to that, but we all need to work together to build a better and a more inclusive environment so everyone feels safe to build the world's best games." 

Beyond its nominations, I can confirm that Activision|Blizzard will not be a part of this year’s #TheGameAwards

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) December 4, 2021

Activision Blizzard has been facing multiple allegations in a lawsuit that alleges the company has an ingrained culture of sexual, and racial, harassment against its employees. The company has since defended itself (and contradicted itself) by claiming the lawsuit is "distorted" and "in many cases false," while also calling the allegations "disturbing." The lawsuit, brought forward by the state of California, has also been criticized by Activision as being filed by "unaccountable state bureaucrats."

Keighley also spoke to The Washington Post before taking to Twitter, where he also stated that "We want to support employees and developers,we have to think very carefully about how to proceed here." He confirmed that there'll be no game reveals from the company, with Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 not featuring during the show. 

This will be the first time in a while that nothing new has been shown off during The Game Awards from Activision Blizzard. The only involvement this year will be two nominations for Best Esports Game for Call of Duty, and Best Ongoing for Call of Duty: Warzone.