Activision-Blizzard Sued By California

[Tietoso]

Man, the person saying that money is all that matters sure is looking silly about now.

The games keep making them a ton of money.
Stocks? That will jump right back up once this dies down. And by the way, CoD and the other games are the most successful FPS franchise other than Fortnite. And they got a lot of successful IP, are you going to ignore that?

It is not a witch hunt if the accusations are, you know, true.

Do you mean the part that he covered up the sexual assault
I am sorry, is there any hard evidence other than hearsay?

That's nice dear; still doesn't change the fact you're being a literal Mister Gotcha and the same response applies.
There being no ethical consumption under capitalism does not mean it is hypocritical to criticize capitalism's negative aspects.
Which is exactly why "gamers" are not worth listening to.
Y'all really need to get the fuck off social media, these takes are old and tired as hell.

It doesn't matter the gotcha thing, nothing but slacktivism , my point still stands.
And you don't understand, gamers not only don't care, but they are not even on the forums screaming and typing about this. And the small group that are, its just a small fraction as well. Like myself.
Next week I am resubbing to try out the new patch and for the anniversery, I still play HoTS and going to try the new hearthstone mode. Don't care a bit about the whole drama behind the scene because I don't work for the company.

Kotick just used to harass and threaten women. He still protects others that do, like the Sledgehammer guy that resigned today after getting outed. But he used to, too.

If it makes you feel better he probably harass and threaten men too. But seriously, that was more than 10 years ago, are you the type that hang to things that people did in the past AND settled with the individual?
and about the sledgehammer guy, were you in the know about what happened? Sexual harassment is a broad term and if he didn't get fired then it doesn't sound like it was anything physical. It could have been a cat call or something inappropriate that he could have apologized and the person forgave him? I am not privy to the details, perhaps you could share your insider information.

[uuuhname]

pretty hilarious actually to hear that goblin Kotick complain about his reputation of being a greedy goblin hampering his attempts at getting dates but the harassment campaigns don't help either I imagine.

[Edge-]

But seriously, that was more than 10 years ago, are you the type that hang to things that people did in the past AND settled with the individual?

You say despite Kotick being aware of the current harassment and doing nothing.

But like...yeah, actually, I kinda do. He was a grown-ass adult 10 years ago, not some dumb kid that did some dumb shit. Settling with the victim doesn't alter how shitty his behavior was.

and about the sledgehammer guy, were you in the know about what happened?

It's in the report. Harassment was reported to HR. HR investigated and determined harassment occured, and recommended firing the employee at fault. Kotick stepped in and kept him around until today, when his harassment was outed and he resigned.

Sexual harassment is a broad term and if he didn't get fired then it doesn't sound like it was anything physical.

I mean, we have multiple literal rapes reported in the report as well. But I guess acknowledging that would be like, inconvenient or something. If you're running a company and people are being routinely sexually harassed, and raped, and nothing is done about it for decades, you're a gigantic piece of shit who doesn't deserve the "benefit of the doubt".

It could have been a cat call or something inappropriate that he could have apologized and the person forgave him?

Given that we know HR has protected abusers within ATVI, and that they validated the harassment report and recommended firing, I'm not sure why you're going to such great lengths to actively defend rapists and abusers.

I am not privy to the details, perhaps you could share your insider information.

Hey, you could like, read the WSJ report or all the reporting on it.

I mean, I guess we should believe Kotick and stuff. Even though he's lied since the initial lawsuit. Including that awful first letter he wrote, but conveniently made one of the only two female executives at the time send out on his behalf. A letter that he later called "tone deaf", as if he wasn't the one that wrote it.

And people wonder why this kind of bullshit continues. Because people like you exist.

[TheramoreIsTheBomb]

Bury this man with allegations. This is the biggest parasitic wasp of the hive. He goes down, so many others will too. This entire company is on life support. We need these sorry asses removed, every. last. one. From the corporate weeds to the perverts to the narcissists, to the big fat cry babies.

[Tietoso]

And people wonder why this kind of bullshit continues. Because people like you exist.

Lets not get personal here, I don't work nor do I own stock in activision to be allowing this type of behavior.

Hey, you could like, read the WSJ report or all the reporting on it. .

Its blocked, can't read it unless I subscribe to it.

Given that we know HR has protected abusers within ATVI, and that they validated the harassment report and recommended firing, I'm not sure why you're going to such great lengths to actively defend rapists and abusers.
.

Excuse me, could you point out where I defended a rapist? The sledgehammer guy raped the person? That's not what I read. I don't think kotick would have stepped in for him or HR allowed him to stay if that was the case. And kotick has sent out that there would be zero tolerance of indecent behavior.

And also you have to remember that this is all hearsay. It wouldn't be the first time that the WSJ would exaggerate things. Unless there is hard proof its a he said she said situation and you are choosing to believe and condemn based on your bias views. Again, I don't work there so I am getting the info from what I read here and Kotaku but its all hearsay with no evidence.

And if its all true, what does it say about the people that work there? Not only management, but all of the people that knew. Because things like that don't stay secret, everyone finds out.

Let me tell you a story, a customer service guy died in teleperformance Dominican republic while taking calls, his co-workers stayed taking calls "because their supervisors told them to" the dude dead body was in the middle of the floor dead and 911 weren't let through because of security wanting clearance for them. It was a full crapshow. The company only threw an apology after word got out. How did it got out? Employees talk word spreads fast. But nothing happened, nothing came out of it. Whats my point? 200 employees plan to walk out wanting to get kotick fired, you mean to tell me that those same employees didn't know about this? That their coworkers were suffering? How many turned a blind eye? And now they are deciding to step up? I guess better late than never. But If all the things you said about the rape and the harassment is true, all of them are guilty, not just Kotick and management, from the ground up, its rotten to the core.

[Edge-]

Lets not get personal here, I don't work nor do I own stock in activision to be allowing this type of behavior.

I'm not, I'm being descriptive.

Its blocked, can't read it unless I subscribe to it.

Tons of reporting on its contents elsewhere.

Excuse me, could you point out where I defended a rapist? The sledgehammer guy raped the person? That's not what I read. I don't think kotick would have stepped in for him or HR allowed him to stay if that was the case. And kotick has sent out that there would be zero tolerance of indecent behavior.

"and abusers", I was differentiating between the two.

And Kotick "said" there will be zero tolerance? Well fuck me, I guess this is all fine and the decades of "lots of tolerance" don't matter, nor the bulshit like Jen being paid less than Mike and resigning because she was fairly pissed at being "tokened" by Activision. Or you know, Kotick throwing Fran Townsend under the bus.

Very indicative of a guy who's committed to equality and inclusivity and respect, and not a spineless loser that seems to view women as beneath him.

And also you have to remember that this is all hearsay.

This ain't a court of law, hearsay is irrelevant. Also, given how much of the earlier reporting has born out as true - and that the Sledgehammer guy resigned - it's unreasonable to not believe this reporting.

It wouldn't be the first time that the WSJ would exaggerate things.

...and? Is there evidence this is exaggerated? Do they have a history of dishonest sensationalism? Or is this the bad faith, "They're not perfect, so we can't trust them." argument?

Unless there is hard proof its a he said she said situation and you are choosing to believe and condemn based on your bias views. Again, I don't work there so I am getting the info from what I read here and Kotaku but its all hearsay with no evidence.

Kotaku didn't break this, so I'm not sure why you keep bringing them up outside of the consensus that "Kotaku is the evil liberal bogeyman."

And yes, again, given that almost all the earlier reporting has born out as true, and that we already have pieces of this reporting that are largely/actually verified, I'm absolutely inclined to believe it.

And if its all true, what does it say about the people that work there? Not only management, but all of the people that knew. Because things like that don't stay secret, everyone finds out.

That they wanted a fuckin job with a paycheck, that they were afraid for their careers if they outed harassers, that they were in an extreme situation and were interested in self preservation.

Are you really trying to offload the blame to like...the victims and other people who weren't harassing others?

Let me tell you a story, a customer service guy died in teleperformance Dominican republic while taking calls, his co-workers stayed taking calls "because their supervisors told them to" the dude dead body was in the middle of the floor dead and 911 weren't let through because of security wanting clearance for them. It was a full crapshow. The company only threw an apology after word got out. How did it got out? Employees talk word spreads fast. But nothing happened, nothing came out of it. Whats my point? 200 employees plan to walk out wanting to get kotick fired, you mean to tell me that those same employees didn't know about this? That their coworkers were suffering? How many turned a blind eye? And now they are deciding to step up? I guess better late than never. But If all the things you said about the rape and the harassment is true, all of them are guilty, not just Kotick and management, from the ground up, its rotten to the core.

Actually, they did walk out.

Stop blaming staff for the abusive management and the absolute failure of management to respond to reports of abuse. This is rank victim blaming and it's beyond gross.

I don't think Kotick-senpai is going to notice you.

[Jtbrig7390]

Lets not get personal here, I don't work nor do I own stock in activision to be allowing this type of behavior.

You really should own some stock with all the bootlicking you are doing.

People have been harassed, raped and one even died because of the bullshit that went on at Activision-Blizzard and Bobby shitbag Kotick knew about it, tried to hide it and even protected the people doing it. On top of that he has also done it himself.

Any other job any other place if the boss did this shit he would be out on his ass. It does not matter how much money the company was making that person would be gone.

I honestly can't tell if you are trolling or just straight up bootlicking because you want to play the next call of duty.

[Tietoso]

You really should own some stock with all the bootlicking you are doing.
I honestly can't tell if you are trolling or just straight up bootlicking because you want to play the next call of duty.

I feel sorry for you that you have to resort to personal attacks, I am not blindly defending them, I am stating that what we have here is hearsay that it is being treated as facts. I don't even play COD I just play Blizzard games. Lolwut.
I don't send people to burn unless there are facts, again, its just he said she said type of stuff. And you are all acting as if it was your family member that was the victim of this, chill.

Stop blaming staff for the abusive management and the absolute failure of management to respond to reports of abuse. This is rank victim blaming and it's beyond gross.

I don't think Kotick-senpai is going to notice you.

What I am saying is that everyone that knew and didn't do anything until now is guilty, I don't care what you call it. And seriously, victim blaming? Did I say anything about the victims or something?

[Edge-]

What I am saying is that everyone that knew and didn't do anything until now is guilty, I don't care what you call it. And seriously, victim blaming? Did I say anything about the victims or something?

What did they do? They reported it to HR, which they were supposed to do. HR did nothing, so short of them just going and outing folks - which is a huge risk to their careers and may not be what the victims actually wanted - there's not much else they can do. The system failed them, and they were not in a position to fix the system.

This is still rank victim blaming and trying to deflect blame from the actual responsible parties: Kotick, management, and the culture they fostered and defended for decades.

[Elegiac]

Do you mean the part that he covered up the sexual assault
I am sorry, is there any hard evidence other than hearsay?

I dunno, maybe the bevy of lawsuits against Blizzard and Activision for fostering a toxic work environment (which they admitted to having) and lying to investors about said work environment. We passed "benefit of the doubt" quite a while ago.

To say nothing of how you keep vacillating between "it didn't happen" and "it doesn't matter if it happened". Kinda cringe, bro. Rofl.

[Tietoso]

By the way I forgot to reply to something real quick:

Kotaku didn't break this, so I'm not sure why you keep bringing them up outside of the consensus that "Kotaku is the evil liberal bogeyman."

Maybe you were rapid firing responding to multiple points but in context is pretty clear why I brought it up, I said I used them as a source since WSJ you had to sub to read, simple as that and you somehow turn it into something it isn't.

What did they do? They reported it to HR, which they were supposed to do. HR did nothing, so short of them just going and outing folks - which is a huge risk to their careers and may not be what the victims actually wanted - there's not much else they can do. The system failed them, and they were not in a position to fix the system.
This is still rank victim blaming and trying to deflect blame from the actual responsible parties: Kotick, management, and the culture they fostered and defended for decades.

I was going to say something about your first point but it would connect to your second point so to finish this up I am not deflecting blame, I am saying they are all guilty, but some more than others such as management.

I dunno, maybe the bevy of lawsuits against Blizzard and Activision for fostering a toxic work environment (which they admitted to having) and lying to investors about said work environment. We passed "benefit of the doubt" quite a while ago.

To say nothing of how you keep vacillating between "it didn't happen" and "it doesn't matter if it happened". Kinda cringe, bro. Rofl.

Did they said they the didn't have a toxic work environment or they just didn't mention it? Because one is lying the other isn't. Maybe I am confused but I didn't say it didn't happened just that there is no evidence other than hearsay and people are taking this way to personally as if they work in the company or something.

At the end of the day, it matters, because it will trickle down in some way to their games and what will come out of it is probably a more sanitized version of the product we play.

[Elegiac]

Did they said they the didn't have a toxic work environment or they just didn't mention it? Because one is lying the other isn't.

Lying by omission is still lying, actually. Especially if it has to do with presenting a false image to investors, as the SEC suit demonstrates.

Maybe I am confused but I didn't say it didn't happened just that there is no evidence other than hearsay and people are taking this way to personally as if they work in the company or something.

Which is not at all you have been doing; you've been actively promoting a position that a toxic work environment is fine as long as you personally get a desired product.

Kinda cringe, as said.

At the end of the day, it matters, because it will trickle down in some way to their games and what will come out of it is probably a more sanitized version of the product we play.

And here's where your actual agenda comes out. Rofl.

No, sweetheart; the evil SJWs are not coming for your video games by trying to make video game development less of a toxic shithole.

[Cthulhu 2020]

I am stating that what we have here is hearsay that it is being treated as facts.

Hearsay, you mean like HR reports, legal settlements, and all that other good documented jazz?

We get it, you like bootlicking. You're trying to treat this stuff as if it's just unsubstantiated rumors, when in reality these are things that actually happened that people have records of. Don't like WSJ as a source and think it's unreliable? Too fucking bad cupcake. This article is costing Activision Blizzard a lot of money. If it was all fake ATV Blizz could sue for harmful slander. Wanna know why they're not? You're a smart boy. You can figure out... At least, I ASSUME you're a smart boy, I always assume someone I'm talking to is smart enough to draw a conclusion based on the circumstances, but if you're not that smart, please let me know.

- - - Updated - - -

No, sweetheart; the evil SJWs are not coming for your video games by trying to make video game development less of a toxic shithole.

On this note: Blizzard's decision to "Sterilize" their game of all even remotely sexual content is a tone deaf response to the recent sexual harassment suits. Blizzard should be fixing sexual harassment IN THE WORK PLACE. Replacing sexy ladies with fruit bowls isn't an answer to the presented problem, but they did it anyway.

If game companies sterilize their games because of sexual harassment suits, that's them being idiots. There are plenty of companies that make edgy, sex filled games that don't have a workplace filled with sexual harassment.

[Jtbrig7390]

I am stating that what we have here is hearsay that it is being treated as facts. ?

I guess the legal filings and HR reports are just hearsay in your world..

But if you want something more solid then that how about the person who fucken killed themselves cause of it all. That also happen under Bobby shitbag Kotick's watch and would get any other boss removed on the spot.

- - - Updated - - -

At the end of the day, it matters, because it will trickle down in some way to their games and what will come out of it is probably a more sanitized version of the product we play.

You took the long route to get there but you finally revealed your true agenda.

You care more about video games than people..

[Rozz]

You took the long route to get there but you finally revealed your true agenda.
You care more about video games than people..

This is true of most of the player base, as pathetic as that is. Hell, all forms of media. The average consumer is a bastard.

[Yuujin]

What? I don't support shady business practices. But I am not in favor of witch hunts either.

Why is it every time someone supports rape culture, they use some variation of the term witch hunt in place of what is actually occurring, an investigation? It is like they are all preprogrammed with the same pathetic responses that expose their acceptance of the behavior they are defending and a profound ignorance to how these issues actually play out.

I know a certain orange baboon recently expanded the vocabulary of said supporters of rape culture, but just because you learned a new phrase or two doesn't mean you should just toss them around in hopes that it will stick.

[DarkAmbient]

Just read that Kotick actually wrote that Fran Townsend email, the one he publicly attacked as "tone deaf". Just when you think the soap opera couldn't become more absurd.

[Santti]

Just read that Kotick actually wrote that Fran Townsend email, the one he publicly attacked as "tone deaf". Just when you think the soap opera couldn't become more absurd.

I guess it kinda makes sense? Townsend is a convenient target. Makes Kotick look more sympathetic and supportive, without actually needing to do much of anything. A PR stunt.

Where did you read about Kotick impersonating Townsend, btw?

[Tsarez]

Kotick ain't a gamer, he's a business guy.

True but I was really talking about the founders of the company. As founders you set the cultural default for your company and enable the right processes to deal with issues of varying nature. People like Kotick and all the other assholes at Blizzard could only do what they did because it wasn't generally ingrained into people's behavior that sexual mischievousness would harbor instantaneous and grieve consequences regardless of position.

Take my company for example. We have extremely strict rules about the consequences of inappropriate sexual conduct, written down in our company's rules of engagement. Immediate termination of employment if accusations are proven true through things like witness testimony. This goes all the way up to the CEO. Nobody has the power to overrule HRs decision on that, they're completely immune to internal influence in these matters. Well, at least that's what we are promised - not that we ever had a case where this had to be enforced.

On the other hand, looking at Blizzard, it seems that whatever the fuck they have in written regarding rules and regulations, a dude like Kotick can just veto decisions made by the board and keep idiots in business regardless of what they did.

The very foundation of this company is rotten, down to the enforcement of any set of rules they have. Incels have made decisions to bring people on board who are psychopathic garbage, and they were kept around because they made a lot of money for everyone. All while totally ignoring or bending rules that are in place to protect the very people who work for this company.

- - - Updated - - -

I guess it kinda makes sense? Townsend is a convenient target. Makes Kotick look more sympathetic and supportive, without actually needing to do much of anything. A PR stunt.

Where did you read about Kotick impersonating Townsend, btw?

I saw a video of Asmon detailing this part as well. There are insider letters and screens published via Twitter that confirm that Kotick wrote the Email for Townsend and had her send it out.

[DarkAmbient]

I guess it kinda makes sense? Townsend is a convenient target. Makes Kotick look more sympathetic and supportive, without actually needing to do much of anything. A PR stunt.

Where did you read about Kotick impersonating Townsend, btw?

It was first published in the WSJ, but this is where I read the story https://kotaku.com/bobby-kotick-actu...-co-1848069983