App Trigger retracts a story it previously published on February 6, 2026 titled “Jeffrey Epstein, Call of Duty Microtransaction Expert?”
The story cited email exchanges from the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice in early 2026. The cited emails related to educational video games. On May 2, 2013, Epstein sent an email to former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. The email presented an idea to use a concept similar to the X Prize to spur the development of education-themed video games. The email stated in part, “You want to skip convincing educators and parents about this stuff and just go straight for the kids.”
The next day, Kotick responded, “X prize is a good idea but key is real world rewards. Learn to read: earn cell phone minutes, iphone credits, virtual items in games.” Epstein then forwarded Kotick’s response to Pablos Holman. Holman responded to Epstein: “I’m all for indoctrinating kids into an economy. You gotta love how his example for ‘real world rewards’ is ‘virtual items in games.’” Kotick was not copied on that email.
The email exchange was not about commercial microtransactions. App Trigger disclaims any assertion or implication that Kotick was “all for indoctrinating kids into an economy,” that Epstein had any influence on the introduction or expansion of microtransactions in gaming, or that Epstein put Kotick in contact with Holman
In a February 12, 2026, letter, an attorney representing Kotick stated: “In reality, Mr. Kotick never had any discussion with Epstein about Call of Duty or any Activision game or business. In May 2013, Mr. Kotick provided a terse but polite response to an email from Epstein about interactive education. Epstein forwarded Mr. Kotick’s response to Pablos Holman. Mr. Kotick does not know and has never met Mr. Holman. And Mr. Kotick was not part of the email exchange between Epstein and Mr. Holman, in which Mr. Holman states that he is ‘all for indoctrinating kids into an economy.’”