Blizzard in the news again

But wait, there's more.

"Ubisoft workers demand company accountability in open letter

Close to 500 current and former employees of “Assassin’s Creed” publisher Ubisoft are standing in solidarity with protesting game developers at Activision Blizzard with a letter that criticizes their company's handling of sexual misconduct."

https://www.axios.com/ubisoft-worker…a7c4534bb3.html

They responded to his comment by noting that he failed to address the points raised in the open letter. I hope people can keep up the pressure.

Looks like they're in full on crisis mode by now. Some of those allegations are horrific

I wonder if people will resign before the axe comes down. If it does.

Well, something happened. And that something is this:

Blizzard president J. Allen Brack is out after sexual harassment suit, employee walkout

Employees were informed of J. Allen Brack’s departure this morning, and an announcement from Activision Blizzard says that former Vicarious Visions leader Jen Oneal and former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra will take over as co-leaders of the company.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/3/22607…t-protest-brack

This one didn't age well:

Quote from Zarsky

1 hour ago, Zarsky said: This one didn't age well:

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Oh wow, super recent… I’ve been listening to this podcast recently! (Not this episode)

I already boycotted them a few years ago after that hearthstone crap (among other things) but they still seem to always find a way to do worse. I'm glad I got the opportunity to let their recruiters know they are not a desirable place to work over the last 5-6 years. I imagine it will be even harder to recruit now (especially since they also don't pay particularly well).

Sponsors drop Overwatch League after harassment lawsuit

"The Overwatch League has lost a number of advertising sponsors in the wake of California's lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for harassment and civil rights violations, as reported by The Washington Post.

Coca-Cola, Kellogg, and State Farm all told the paper that they were revaluating their Overwatch League partnerships."

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-…assment-lawsuit

And people were worried about sponsors dropping CSGO because of the violence/theme depicted

Activision Blizzard shareholder calls company response "inadequate"

"Investment group SOC says that Activision Blizzard's recent promises to improve its culture do not go "nearly far enough to address the deep and widespread issues with equity, inclusion, and human capital management" that the company is facing."

https://www.axios.com/activision-bli…cd80ea2f1e.html

This part of the letter made me laugh. Don't know how much experience the directors have, but I wouldn't be surprised if none ever worked in development. But damn, man, there's word of cutting bonuses for this year. That's some real shit.

[Blocked Image: https://i.imgur.com/gxaiN0g.png]

That extract sounds weird to me… unless it means that because they don’t have dev experience they were sitting in their ivory towers, I’d expect managers without dev skills to be able to focus more on the human aspect and realise what was going on, I would kinda expect that people in dev would be more absorbed in the work and lose sight of the surrounding ?

Hopefully this case will bring a lot of fresh air all around the industry

Quote

"This does not bode well, for it confirms my darkest fears. While I did not allow myself to believe the Ancient Legends, I cannot deny them now. Perhaps the time has come to reveal who I am. My true name is Deckard Cain the Elder, and I am the last descendant of an Ancient Brotherhood that was dedicated to safeguarding the secrets of a timeless Evil. An Evil that quite obviously has now been released."

Deckard Kain in Diablo 1.

(I'm not making a joke)