Activision Blizzard Faces Lawsuit From The State Of California

In July, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is suing Activision Blizzard. The lawsuit alleges that executives at Blizzard had fostered a “frat-boy” and misogynistic company culture that had subjected multiple female employees to sexual harassment and unequal pay.

Activision Blizzard is a multi-million-dollar game publisher with popular titles such as “Overwatch”, “Call of Duty”, and “World of Warcraft”. The company executive initially had called the lawsuit “truly meritless and irresponsible,” but later apologized and called his response “tone-deaf.”

Blizzard is receiving pressure on all fronts. Following the lawsuit’s announcement, as many as hundreds of Blizzard employees have staged a walk-out in protest of the company’s response and years of discriminatory behavior. Employees have demanded the removal of forced arbitration out of their employee contracts and an overhaul of the company’s structure.

Sponsors for the company’s tournaments are also beginning to pull out. Most notably, Coca-Cola and State Farm have begun to re-evaluate while T-Mobile has already pulled its branding out of Blizzard’s Overwatch League and Call of Duty League.

Not only has Blizzard received massive backlash from employees and sponsors, but also has a significantly worse public perception.
When asked if she would support any of Activision Blizzard’s future endeavors, Sukyung K., a junior at AISG and avid gamer, said,” No I would likely not support anything made by Blizzard in the near future; what they had done to female employees was terrible.”

Alanis M., a sophomore at AISG, who was asked the same question, said,” No, I would not. Even though I don’t play video games, treating your employees like this isn’t fair and I would not support any company with such a toxic work culture.”
On August 3rd, two weeks following the lawsuit, the chief executive officer of Blizzard, Allen Brack, stepped down. Mike Ybarra and Jen Oneal will take his place. Oneal will be the first woman to be a chief executive officer since the company’s founding in 1979.

Systematic harassment and discrimination have been prevalent in the gaming industry for quite a long time and have been spoken out against on multiple occasions. What is different, this time around, is that the issue is being taken seriously.

Last year, Riot, a publisher similar to Activision Blizzard, has also been sued by the state of California for their mistreatment of female employees. Systematic sexism should have no place in gaming and a movement against it has finally begun to take place.