- The scandal around Blizzard’s alleged mistreatment of female employees continues
- According to reports, numerous employees will be going on a strike
- Activision-Blizzard’s CEO condemned his company’s handling of the situation
As the Activision Blizzard scandal unfolds, more parties have become involved. The CEO Bobby Kotick and the team behind WoW vow to make the company a better place.
Blizzard Employees Going on a Strike
Various Activision Blizzard-related parties, including a number of employees, the World of Warcraft team, and the chief executive officer Bobby Kotick, have reacted to the ongoing lawsuit against the company caused by the latter’s mistreatment of female workers.
The current situation was caused by accusations of Blizzard having a so-called “frat boy” culture that severely discriminates against women, pays them unequally, and has even led to a suicide case. In response, the company stated that the allegations are exaggerated. Many people, including more than 10% of the company’s employees, critiqued the response’s lack of sensibility, which only worsened Blizzard’s situation.
As a result of all of this, Blizzard’s employees will reportedly be on strike, starting today. They will be protesting against Blizzard’s poor handling of the situation and insensitive dismissal of the allegations as a hoax. The protestors will be gathering outside of Blizzard’s main site in Irvine, California.
Their demands are better to work conditions that will assure an all-inclusive atmosphere and the same promotion opportunities for people, regardless of race and gender.
Blizzard’s Highest Command Responds
Activision Blizzard’s chief executive officer, Bobby Kotick, joined the ongoing situation by criticizing his own company’s tone-deaf way of responding to the serious allegations. Kotick sent an email to all of the company’s employees to let them know that he doesn’t agree with the way Blizzard responded to the allegations and to apologize for the lack of empathy and understanding.
In order to shift things in the right direction, the CEO has asked law company WilmerHale to check Blizzard’s policies thoughtfully and help the latter company to maintain the best practices that ensure an all-inclusive workplace.
Kotick’s email promises that the company will investigate every single claim and take measures where necessary. Managers and leaders will be evaluated and will have action taken against them if needed. The company will tighten its hiring policies and will remove any inappropriate content from its products.
Speaking of which, the team behind World of Warcraft, one of Activision Blizzard’s most recognized titles, released a statement concerning the situation and promised it would be removing any inappropriate references from the game. The employees behind the company’s famous MMORPG said that the last few days had been a time of reflection. The team emphasized that it isn’t indifferent to the women’s pleads for a fairer work environment.
The WoW developers announced that they “stand committed to taking the actions necessary to ensure we are providing an inclusive, welcoming, and safe environment both for our team and for our players in Azeroth.” Because of this, both iterations of the game (Classic and Retail) will see those unspecified inappropriate references removed.
The team added that trust must be earned through action and vowed to follow the vision of creating a place for people of all genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and backgrounds.
The ongoing lawsuit is a test for Activision Blizzard. Regardless of whether the law finds the video game company guilty of the accusations or not, it will be a good opportunity for Blizzard to establish a nice and fair work experience for all of its employees.
