Update: The President of Blizzard Entertainment, J. Allen Brack is stepping down less than two weeks after an investigation into allegations of harassment and discrimination within Blizzard started. In a statement, Blizzard announced Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will co-lead the company moving forward. The original story continues below.
This past week, a large crowd of more than a thousand employees of American video game company Activision Blizzard, responsible for popular MMOs such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Overwatch, rallied outside the company’s campus to protest alleged sexual and psychological harassment and discrimination. The walkout was also in retaliation to Activision Blizzard's initial responses to these allegations of unlawful conduct, which some thought left much to be desired in terms of taking accountability and acknowledging the damage that has been done.
On July 20, the allegations took the form of a more serious threat to the company as a lawsuit was filed in the state of California, which prompted many others, both women and men, former and current employees alike, to also publicly share their experiences. This lawsuit included reports of not only harassment but also pay discrimination and a general toxic work environment. Since the lawsuit was filed, more than 2600 employees have signed an open letter directed at the company’s management, which included the following:
Categorizing the claims that have been made as “distorted, and in many cases false” creates a company atmosphere that disbelieves victims. It also casts doubt on our organizations’ ability to hold abusers accountable for their actions and foster a safe environment for victims to come forward in the future. These statements make it clear that our leadership is not putting our values first. Immediate corrections are needed from the highest level of our organization. Our company executives have claimed that actions will be taken to protect us, but in the face of legal action — and the troubling official responses that followed — we no longer trust that our leaders will place employee safety above their own interests.
The walkout garnered international attention and was supported by the gaming industry at large, and many have reached out in solidarity with the victims. On the streets, employees and sympathizers to the cause stood next to each other and carried signs, some of which read messages like: “Play Nice! Play Fair!,” “Nerf Male Privilege” and “Women in the Video Game Industry Deserve a Safe Place to Work." The lawsuit, which was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, has been the result of a two-year investigation into the inappropriate conduct and unlawful behavior at the company’s workplace.
So far, Activision Blizzard has issued a response with a promise to conduct an internal investigation into this misconduct and the reported culture of toxicity, with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick releasing a public statement last week saying that the company would be "taking swift action." Meanwhile, a new open letter signed by over 500 current and former Ubisoft employees offered support to those at Activision while demanding industry-wide change. It’s still uncertain how the situation will fully progress. As of now, court proceedings are pending and it may still be some time before the case against Activision Blizzard goes to trial.