A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick to All Employees

[Thelxi]

All this drama is making me think that there was something to the recent leak talking about the arrogance of the company. It's hard to think such a large and profitable company is so complacent but damn.

[FelPlague]

Didn't ubisoft got some news about this last week too?

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To be fair, the lawsuits also talks about unequal treatment to women and people of different ethinicities aswell.

Yes, that is the news that came last week, that they hadent been doing fucking anything about their problems, they said they would, but its been found out they didnt, sooooo yeah, somehow a company saying "hey we know we did wrong, we will fix it" then being found out to have done nothing, is not news.

like legit ubisoft timing was perfect, cause blizzard took the heat off them cause everyone loves to hate acti/blizz, almost morethen EA.

[Sluvs]

That's what I mean, it seems like everyone was abused in the company, how exactly does hiring more [race] [gender] magically fix that, moreso pissed off at that's what companies try to do as a magic wand for problems.

Theoretically speaking, by putting more diverse people in positions of power, women and people from different cultural backgrounds would have a better support system in the company and white people would not be prioritized over others.

That is what they intend to achieve at least.

[s0ul]

Stephanie works for Bobby. Go to her with your complaints if you were victimized at Bobby's company?

[Sluvs]

Yes, that is the news that came last week, that they hadent been doing fucking anything about their problems, they said they would, but its been found out they didnt, sooooo yeah, somehow a company saying "hey we know we did wrong, we will fix it" then being found out to have done nothing, is not news.

like legit ubisoft timing was perfect, cause blizzard took the heat off them cause everyone loves to hate acti/blizz, almost morethen EA.

Apparently Blizz is easier to hate aswell, and they keep putting the foot in their mouth as has been said here.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Who the fuck cares about diversity hires and [race] [sexuality] [gender] the problem is that a shit load of people in your company were sexual predators, I'm sure when it all comes out we'll find that the "diverse" crowd were doing it aswell, the problem is your company is filled with predators of all shapes and sizes, how does just randomly hiring more black people or gay people remedy that? why the fuck are companies so quick to jump to the "WE'LL HIRE BLACK PEOPLE THAT'LL FIX IT" when something comes up, it's actually insulting as fuck.

The main point of the lawsuit is actually that they discrimate against women on a systemic level. The other stuff was just the icing on the cake to make a point, as sexual harassment is not actually dealt with by the agency (at least not in the criminal sense).

[Belloc]

Wait so Blizzard is paying it’s employees to participate in the walk out? So it’s being sanctioned by the company the ? Smells more like a publicity stunt than an actual walk out meant to spark change within the company

It sounds like they decided to do a walk out and Blizzard agrees with their reasoning and is doing whatever they can to preserve their image and address the issue, which means paying the employees.

[Kathranis]

He is just pretending. In reality he doesnt give a single brownie.

Frankly, I don't care what his motivation is if the right thing is getting done. Sincerity is overrated; actions matter, consequences matter. I'd rather someone do the right thing for the wrong reasons than do nothing at all. It's better than Mike "nice guy" Morhaime apologizing after he's out the door.

Not saying he deserves credit, either. He isn't going above and beyond here. This is what needed to be done, simple as that.

I'd really prefer if Kotick stepped down, obviously. He's an overpaid scumbag. But I'm not so naive to think the board will ever oust him, either, or that his replacement will be any better. So, if it takes falling stock prices, walkouts, lawsuits, and a PR crisis to motivate him, so be it.

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Stephanie works for Bobby. Go to her with your complaints if you were victimized at Bobby's company?

No, it's an outside firm. That's the point of hiring an independent team to do this. Their job is to be impartial.

[Kiwijello]

"You have my unwavering commitment that we will improve our company together, and we will be the most inspiring, inclusive entertainment company
in the world."

It should have never been out of his control. He didn't care. NOW it's an issue. He had his chance to fix it and failed. NEXT?

[Kilpi]

Very sad.

Why is that sad? And don't say it's "censoring"...

[bonch]

"In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is inappropriate. We are removing that content."
So...they are going to heavily censor all women in the game and make them wear burqas, while the men can still be free and mostly nude at all times?

Your knee-jerk reaction has you horribly confused. This is about certain NPCs and references, like Field Marshal Afrasiabi.

[Gadzooks]

The purge is here! Might be the only good thing on the list!

The "purge" should have happened in 2018 when the company was originally served by the state - as CEO he was 100% aware of it. I suspect that's what the shareholder investigation is about.

Now, his hand is being forced, and he blinked. Hard. Calling the comments of his own staff tone deaf? Oh, he's soiling his underoos this week, he has the staff in insurrection, threats of unionizing, the the investors are investigating him now, and there has to have been a significant cancellation of accounts and subs.

Oh, he blinked. Which is good, because after reading up on his own sexual harassment lawsuit (he wasn't the harasser), he's a genuine, gold standard turd. No, really. He's a piece of shit.

Now, it's good he blinked, for the employees. For now. But this isn't over - since he's partially admitting the state's lawsuit has merit, he may be being forced to the table to negotiate a settlement with the state. Or his lawfirm doing the review will use the info they dig up for later use, to get rid of the rabble rousers who are calling for demonstrations and unions. He's that kind of piece of shit, who went personal in the harassment suit he was involved in. I simply don't have any ability to give him the benefit of the doubt he and his staff are acting in good faith.

That's the real question now, after this statement: are you still going to fight this in court, Bobby? Notice how he did not mention, name, or even hint at the actual lawsuit.

The tide is turning, but don't expect this to be over. Bobby blinked, but the lawsuit as of right now is still active. If and until they settle this, this statement means nothing. It's just mealy mouthed ass covering corporate bullshit. Remember, on top of his turd like behavior in a previous lawsuit, he's the guy who laid off 800 people in a record breaking profitable year, and gave himself an outrageous, obnoxious amount of money.

How many pissed off calls have you gotten from the Board at ATVI, Bobby? Hmmm?

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Not entirely certain that making public the contact information of the confidential outreach is a great idea for the people reporting on this.

It's public knowledge. There is no reason not to include it. This was not a leaked internal email.

[Alayea]

Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To strengthen our capabilities in this area we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance team and the Employee Relations team.

Every large enough company worth their salt would have a functioning support system. And guess what? One of the reasons Activision-Blizzard is being sued is because they kept doing nothing to fix the issues.

Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe spaces, moderated by third parties, for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.

See above.

Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.

I'll believe that when I see it. Not before.

Hiring Practices. Earlier this year I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are in fact adhering to this directive.

...

In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is inappropriate. We are removing that content.

I can tell there has been at least something on that front, in regards to Alex Afrasiabi's numerous references in the game. I would like to know what the full scope of this objective is, though.

Your well-being remains my priority and I will spare no company resource ensuring that our company has the most welcoming, comfortable, and safe culture possible.

Says the CEO that was unjustly rewarded hundreds of millions in bonuses in record profit years while canning hundreds of employees. Put your money where your mouth is, Bobby Kotick.

Jason Schreier tweeted today that Blizzard has offered paid time off to any employee participating in tomorrow's walk-out.

I'd say how nice of them that is, except I have a suspicion that it'll be counted against any accumulated PTO.

[Gadzooks]

let's all take a time to remember that bobby kotick himself lost a legal battle in a sexual harassment case against him in 2010. he's on par with some the men that they are going to fire, kinda obvious that he's is just trying to save stock prices (and by proxy, his 100+ mil bonuses)

Be accurate here - Bobby was not the harasser in that case, it was his partner of an LLC they formed together to own a Lear jet.

https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ent...litigator.html

He's still a massive turd, who hangs out with and buys jets with creeps.

[Neotart]

*Grabs Popcorn and settles in*

Dis gonna be good

*Shares M&m's"

[chaoticcrono]

Well its begun

https://www.wowhead.com/news/referen...arcraft-323588

In before blizzturd celebrates that they've ended sexism and sexual harassment by changing shit in a video game...

[MoanaLisa]

Well its begun

https://www.wowhead.com/news/referen...arcraft-323588

Given how long he's been out and why, it's about damn time.

[Neotart]

"{In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is inappropriate. We are removing that content.":


hmmmm, like what? the only inappropriate content is the Toxic players, and the lack of good content.

[Xez]

I wonder what stuff in-game they're going to censor.

[BossManRoth]

So.... less based on merit, more on "diverse" skintones and what's between their legs? Am I reading this correctly?

absolutely, expect whatever they put out to decrease even more in quality.