“Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” creator inks new HQ in Santa Monica

Embattled gaming giant Activision Blizzard has found a home for its largest unit at Lincoln Property Company West’s Pen Factory complex in Santa Monica.

Activision Publishing, whose hits include “Call of Duty” and “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” is subleasing 90,000 square feet from Gilead Sciences company Kite Pharma, according to Commercial Observer. The complex is located at 2701 Olympic Boulevard.

Healthcare company GoodRx leases the other 130,000 square feet at the complex after taking another 57,000 square feet earlier this summer.

Activision Blizzard announced in March it would leave its nearly 215,000-square-foot headquarters at Boston Properties’ Santa Monica Business Park after 10 years.

Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. took over that space in June.

Office landlords have been hard-pressed to find new tenants since the pandemic. Leasing has been slow since last spring and some projections show it won’t recover until 2023.

Tenants have been trying to sublease space and downsize their footprint — available office space nearly doubled to 7.4 million square feet in the second quarter, from 3.8 million square feet in the first quarter of 2020.

Activision Publishing is the largest of Activision Blizzard’s segments, and also includes several development studios. The company is being forced to reckon with an alleged toxic workplace culture.

In July, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued Activision Blizzard, alleging discrimination and sexual harassment against female employees, according to PC Gamer.

Since then, about 3,000 employees have signed an open letter calling for acknowledgement of wrongdoing, seeking remedies. News reports since have detailed further claims of sexual harassment and alleged unhealthy working conditions.

[CO] — Dennis Lynch