Game developers take stand against Activision Blizzard’s alleged harassment and discrimination of women

If you’re someone who only plays games casually or even not at all, you might be confused why “Activision Blizzard” has been in the news over the past week.

Unfortunately, it’s not over something as simple as the announcement of a new Call of Duty or World of Warcraft game — it’s much darker.

What it’s all about

On July 20th, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against the Santa Monica, California-based games publisher alleging a “frat boy” work culture in which female employees regularly faced sexual harassment, unequal pay, retaliation and more.

The lawsuit, which is based on a two-year investigation, can be read in its entirety here, but it should be noted that many of the accusations found within are disturbing.

In particular, male developers and executives were said to have frequently hit on, attempted to kiss, groped and/or made other unwanted advances on their female colleagues. Per the lawsuit, longtime World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi was actually “so known to engage in harassment of females that his suite was nicknamed the ‘Crosby Suite’ [sic] after alleged rapist Bill Crosby [sic]” and even contained a picture of the disgraced actor. Kotaku has an in-depth follow-up report on Afrasiabi’s actions.

The lawsuit states that male developers would regularly come into work hungover and play video games while delegating their responsibilities to their female coworkers, all while demeaning them with sexual comments and jokes about rape. One female employee even reportedly committed suicide following a work trip in which an unnamed male supervisor had brought lubricant and butt plugs with them.

Meanwhile, women at Activision Blizzard report a “lack of trust” in human resources and executives like Blizzard president J. Allen Brack, who they say would dismiss their stories while failing to keep them confidential. The lawsuit also alleges that women at Activision Blizzard were routinely paid and promoted less than their male counterparts.

Activision-Blizzard’s response

While many current, former and non-Activision Blizzard employees came forward to share their own experiences of sexism and abuse, the publisher initially downplayed the reports.

In a lengthy July 21st statement provided to Bloomberg investigative reporter Jason Schreier, an Activision spokesperson called the lawsuit’s allegations “distorted, and in many cases false” while referring to the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing as “unaccountable State bureaucrats.” In a follow-up tweet, Schreier noted that he’s heard “several stories about sexism and sexual misconduct at Blizzard over the past few years” and promised to report more on the matter.

Activision chief compliance officer Frances Townsend also claimed that the lawsuit painted “a distorted and untrue picture of [Activision Blizzard], including factually incorrect, old, and out of context stories, some from more than a decade ago.” All the while, Activision’s social media accounts did not address the allegations and largely went quiet altogether.

Understandably, many female developers blasted the company for denying their claims. Thousands of current and former employees even signing a letter to express their discontent, calling the response “abhorrent and insulting.”

It was only on July 27th, after the publication of this letter, that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, gaming’s most overpaid CEO, finally issued his own statement. In a letter to employees, he apologized for the company’s “tone-deaf” initial response while outlining a number of steps that it would take to address the allegations, including allocating additional resources for “employee support,” creating third-party-led “safe spaces” for “listening sessions” to air grievances and diversifying hiring practices.

This statement came on the eve of a planned July 28th walkout from Activision Blizzard employees to protest the company’s alleged toxic workplace culture.

Women in gaming respond

In their own letter, organizers of the strike said that while they were “pleased to see” their collective voices had “convinced leadership to change the tone of their communications,” Kotick’s response still “fails to address critical elements at the heart of employee concerns.”

Per the letter, Activision “did not address” the following issues:

• The end of forced arbitration for all employees
• Worker participation in the oversight of hiring and promotion policies
• The need for greater pay transparency to ensure equality
• Employee selection of a third party to audit HR and other company processes

The letter concluded with the following statement:

Today’s walkout will demonstrate that this is not a one-time event that our leaders can ignore. We will not return to silence; we will not be placated by the same processes that led us to this point. This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees, especially women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.

We expect a prompt response and a commitment to action from leadership on the points enumerated above, and look forward to maintaining a constructive dialogue on how to build a better Activision Blizzard for all employees.

Today, we stand up for change. Tomorrow and beyond, we will be the change.

Many developers and other members of the gaming community have also been tweeting their support of the protest using the hashtag “#ActiBlizzWalkout.”

Additionally, around 500 current and former Ubisoft employees have issued their own letter (via Axios) to express their support for the Activision Blizzard walkout. At the same time, these employees have criticized Ubisoft for its own response to allegations of misconduct towards female workers. Last year, male developers at several Ubisoft studios, including those in Montreal and Toronto, were accused of abusing women and having unsupportive and dysfunctional HR departments.

While Ubisoft has said it’s made “considerable progress” in addressing these issues (including introducing new policies, training programs and support groups), a recent Bloomberg report noted that little has actually changed at the company, with many of these alleged abusers remaining at the company.

What you can do

It remains to be seen what Activision Blizzard will do following the walkout. For now, the company has only said that it will offer paid time off to the employees participating in the walkout.

Of course, as a consumer, you might be thinking that there’s nothing you can do. However, organizers have been sharing ways that everyone can show their support.

For one, some have encouraged people to simply not purchase or even play an Activision Blizzard game — today at the very least, if not for longer periods until change is enacted. As Virtual EconCast host Mike Futter notes, companies are “deeply invested in engagement.” If Activision Blizzard suddenly sees a precipitous drop in players of Call of Duty, Warcraft, Starcraft and the like, that will send the message that gamers don’t condone the company’s work culture.

Further, organizers have been sharing several relevant organizations that you can support through donations or even just spreading the word. These are all focused on helping women in gaming and other technological fields, including Black Girls Code, Futures Without Violence, Girls Who Code and Women in Games International.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons