Activision-Blizzard Sued By California

[ParanoiD84]

Well well didnt go as planned for blizz, but it can still be used against the DFEH as a way to cripple the suit so there is that just glad they dont get off that easy.

Activision Blizzard's attempt to halt lawsuit rejected
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/activisio...suit-rejected/

[Levelfive]

Embattled gaming company Blizzard loses female co-leader after 3 months

"Embattled video game company Activision Blizzard is having a bad day. In a flurry of announcements Tuesday, the company said “Overwatch 2” and “Diablo IV,” sequels to popular franchises from the publisher, were being delayed to unspecified dates. Additionally, Blizzard Entertainment co-leader Jen Oneal is stepping down amid continued turmoil at the company following a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a California state agency over the summer. Both the delays and Oneal’s departure were announced during Activision Blizzard’s quarterly earnings call.

Blizzard, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, promoted Oneal and Mike Ybarra as co-leaders in August after the former president, J. Allen Brack, was named in the California lawsuit. The filing alleged that Brack failed to mitigate harassment at the company despite being personally aware of multiple incidents. Brack resigned in August after a nearly three-year tenure as president, succeeding co-founder Mike Morhaime.

Shortly before the call, Oneal sent an email to employees stating, “I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year.”"

https://wapo.st/3CI6LxI

I have to say I'm not super shocked the whole "co-leads" thing wasn't a resounding success.

[Sunseeker]

Embattled gaming company Blizzard loses female co-leader after 3 months

"Embattled video game company Activision Blizzard is having a bad day. In a flurry of announcements Tuesday, the company said “Overwatch 2” and “Diablo IV,” sequels to popular franchises from the publisher, were being delayed to unspecified dates. Additionally, Blizzard Entertainment co-leader Jen Oneal is stepping down amid continued turmoil at the company following a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a California state agency over the summer. Both the delays and Oneal’s departure were announced during Activision Blizzard’s quarterly earnings call.

Blizzard, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, promoted Oneal and Mike Ybarra as co-leaders in August after the former president, J. Allen Brack, was named in the California lawsuit. The filing alleged that Brack failed to mitigate harassment at the company despite being personally aware of multiple incidents. Brack resigned in August after a nearly three-year tenure as president, succeeding co-founder Mike Morhaime.

Shortly before the call, Oneal sent an email to employees stating, “I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year.”"

https://wapo.st/3CI6LxI

I have to say I'm not super shocked the whole "co-leads" thing wasn't a resounding success.

I suspect the problems are so deeply ingrained as to really make it impossible for anyone else to step in and "right the ship".

[Elegiac]

I suspect the problems are so deeply ingrained as to really make it impossible for anyone else to step in and "right the ship".

Yep.

"Blizzard Entertainment" as a brand is honestly not salvageable at this point beyond some massive No Man's Sky-esque good faith campaign which is extraordinarily unlikely . None of its IPs have momentum, its internal structure is shot to shit, and with increasing levels of tension between Western and Chinese markets the reliance on the (largely fake) earnings of latter to subsidize the failings of the former is becoming less viable.

Folks were spot on when they said that the only thing which will kill WoW is WoW itself.

[Kaleredar]

Yep.

"Blizzard Entertainment" as a brand is honestly not salvageable at this point beyond some massive No Man's Sky-esque good faith campaign which is extraordinarily unlikely . None of its IPs have momentum, its internal structure is shot to shit, and with increasing levels of tension between Western and Chinese markets the reliance on the (largely fake) earnings of latter to subsidize the failings of the former is becoming less viable.

Folks were spot on when they said that the only thing which will kill WoW is WoW itself.

Ehhh I think the notion that the company is inevitably going under is not wholly accurate.

Blizzard's IPs might not be as popular as they once were, but that's separate from the notion that they're "unprofitable," which is ultimately all that matters to a company.

Hearthstone does nothing but print money for them and requires extremely little upkeep, save for periodically contracting out to a handful of artists to make some card art every few months. OW is probably down to a skeleton crew at this point, let alone what's happening with OW2, and I'm sure people who just gotta have that newest genji skin are still buying spades of loot boxes. WoW might not have 12 million players like it did in WotLK, but if it has enough subscribers to remain profitable between WoW subscriptions and token purchases (you're not "denying a monthly sub fee" when you pay via WoW tokens, seeing as someone else paid more than a monthly fee to buy it from them initially) it'll keep shambling on. Plus BC and Classic realms are basically no-upkeep funnels of sub fees as well.

I don't think their financial situations are actually that dire. As for the publicity blowback, I don't think these forums are an accurate place to judge that, seeing as it's difficult to tell apart the people who are genuinely outraged as Blizzard's long-time mistreatment of its employees, and the people who are just fist-pumping at Blizzard's current situation because they never got that appropriately titanforged-and-socketed piece of gear in WoD and ragequit over it, and has been harboring a blizzard grudge for the better part of a decade for it and who ultimately don't care about the women who were harassed or the endemic abuse of power that occurred.

[Santti]

Ehhh I think the notion that the company is inevitably going under is not wholly accurate.

I'm inclined to agree. Blizzard got it's nose bloodied, but it's nothing they can't recover from. They are still printing money, left, right and center, and that's more than enough for our corporate overlords. And just like with Blitzchung, people will forgive and forget any of this ever happened. If they ever cared in the first place, that is.

Look at EA. Everybody talks how much they hate them. A video game company that keeps getting voted the worst company in America. And that's just all kinds of impressive, beating companies like AT&T, Walmart and Bank of America. Is EA in any kind of monetary trouble? Like fuck they are.

[Draco-Onis]

Ehhh I think the notion that the company is inevitably going under is not wholly accurate.

Blizzard's IPs might not be as popular as they once were, but that's separate from the notion that they're "unprofitable," which is ultimately all that matters to a company.

Hearthstone does nothing but print money for them and requires extremely little upkeep, save for periodically contracting out to a handful of artists to make some card art every few months. OW is probably down to a skeleton crew at this point, let alone what's happening with OW2, and I'm sure people who just gotta have that newest genji skin are still buying spades of loot boxes. WoW might not have 12 million players like it did in WotLK, but if it has enough subscribers to remain profitable between WoW subscriptions and token purchases (you're not "denying a monthly sub fee" when you pay via WoW tokens, seeing as someone else paid more than a monthly fee to buy it from them initially) it'll keep shambling on. Plus BC and Classic realms are basically no-upkeep funnels of sub fees as well.

I don't think their financial situations are actually that dire. As for the publicity blowback, I don't think these forums are an accurate place to judge that, seeing as it's difficult to tell apart the people who are genuinely outraged as Blizzard's long-time mistreatment of its employees, and the people who are just fist-pumping at Blizzard's current situation because they never got that appropriately titanforged-and-socketed piece of gear in WoD and ragequit over it, and has been harboring a blizzard grudge for the better part of a decade for it and who ultimately don't care about the women who were harassed or the endemic abuse of power that occurred.

It would take something monumental for Blizzard to go down the drain however their reputation is forever tarnished even they realize this because they have removed the "blizzard tax". That is a good thing long term for anyone who still wants to work for the company hiring has been challenging since the scandal. Blizzard could just stay the course milk its current player base with ever engrossing monetization to continually increase profit which seems to be the case. For a long time Blizzard has seem to be unable to fully utilize their IPs for profitability I am not sure that can change unless there is a change at the very top. King remains the most profitable aspect of Activision Blizzard maybe that model of just making good games is dead and gone, when a company gets this size it tends get lazy and complacent (see apple).

[Sunseeker]

Yep.

"Blizzard Entertainment" as a brand is honestly not salvageable at this point beyond some massive No Man's Sky-esque good faith campaign which is extraordinarily unlikely . None of its IPs have momentum, its internal structure is shot to shit, and with increasing levels of tension between Western and Chinese markets the reliance on the (largely fake) earnings of latter to subsidize the failings of the former is becoming less viable.

Folks were spot on when they said that the only thing which will kill WoW is WoW itself.

No, I think their properties are doing fine. I meant in terms of company behaviour. There's a reason they chose a woman to co-lead the company. There's a reason she's leaving. It's the same reason the State is suing. THAT problem is what I mean is too deeply ingrained. When that sort of culture gets established at a company, it takes a lot more than a couple new directors and PR-people to change it. The company most likely needs a through cleanout of employees.

[segara82]

Activision Blizzard needs a miracle to get back on track. Since the start of the year their stock price has fallen by ~24,55% so far and no good news in sight.
The news of their praised new co-president quitting, with Diablo 4 and OW 2 delayed by a year resulted in another drop from 77 to 66 $.
Blizzard is the weakest part of ATVI, with no new IPs, declining MAUs, delayed games expected to make no 'material contribution' in 2022, employees running away, ....
Bobby Kotick has to do something to appease the investors, if does not get things on track until Christmas it could be his ass on the line.

[intenz]

I love it when these braindead woke corporations get eaten by their own.

[uuuhname]

I love it when these braindead woke corporations get eaten by their own.

by sexually harassing their employees....

[Edge-]

I love it when these braindead woke corporations get eaten by their own.

FYI that's not why their stock went down, if that's what you're referencing. It has little to nothing to do with that and everything to do with them confirming that two major Blizzard releases will not be coming in 2022. Which would have been the case with or without the lawsuit.

[Orby]

Well things are heating up once again. The women who was so leader was being paid less than the guy who was made co-leader lol. Thats why she left... This company is a joke.

Via the WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/activis...ns-11637075680

Blizzard go from bad to worse.. or worse to whatever is worse than worse?

I am on my phone now so I am not at the computer, so if people wanna link articles and quote them here please do.

Also via Jason Schreirer

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/st...41385875451914

[Kralljin]

Blizzard go from bad to worse.. or worse to whatever is worse than worse?

Blizzard hasn't done anything wrong in this case, this is Activision (Blizzard) level and even that is partially false, that is just Kotick.

Actually, it makes Blizzard appear "less" bad because it highlights that the issue has been ignored at a level even above them, especially as HR is quite often heavy under the thumb of parent companies.

If Kotick knew of serious cases of sexual harassment, he should've implemented changes company wide, as he's been the CEO of Activision Blizzard, not just Activision, which would've also affected Blizzard.
But him turning a blind eye towards that naturally gave the creeps at Blizzard a blank check (more or less).

[uuuhname]

man who has flight logs on the Lolita Express ignored sexual misconduct at his company?!?!?
*surprised Pikachu face*

[Edge-]

Blizzard go from bad to worse.. or worse to whatever is worse than worse?

Not defending Blizzard here, but that's an Activision thing since they're in charge of the whole show at the end of the day. Hence why Blizzard doesn't have a CEO (last was Morhaime) or even a President (Brak), but "Leaders" which is is a pointless and useless title that largely exists to clearly signal that these people (now just Ybarra) have extremely limited power and authority within the company.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/st...41385875451914

I just hope this is enough to to force Kotick to resign finally.

- - - Updated - - -

Actually, it makes Blizzard appear "less" bad because it highlights that the issue has been ignored at a level even above them, especially as HR is quite often heavy under the thumb of parent companies.

Semantics, but it doesn't make Blizzard "less bad", it just brings Activision proper - at the corporate level - down to being "as bad as Blizzard". Since we know that like this recent revelation with Kotick, that both Morhaime and Brak were directly aware of many of these issues under their leadership.

[Orby]

Not defending Blizzard here, but that's an Activision thing since they're in charge of the whole show at the end of the day. Hence why Blizzard doesn't have a CEO (last was Morhaime) or even a President (Brak), but "Leaders" which is is a pointless and useless title that largely exists to clearly signal that these people (now just Ybarra) have extremely limited power and authority within the company.
.

yea I was meant to write 'Activision-Blizzard' as a whole but force of habit just makes me write Blizzard for some reason lol.

[dope_danny]

Yeah i don't think theres any salvaging these company reps at this point.

[Edge-]

Only silver lining to this is that Kotick seems to have lied to the board, and the board are the ones with the authority to can his ass. So this is the most likely development to kick his ass to the curb with his golden parachute so he can retire early and do a speaking tour about the dangers of being #canceled when he needs some money for hookers and coke over the weekend.

[Kralljin]

Semantics, but it doesn't make Blizzard "less bad", it just brings Activision proper - at the corporate level - down to being "as bad as Blizzard". Since we know that like this recent revelation with Kotick, that both Morhaime and Brak were directly aware of many of these issues under their leadership.

The point is that the issue has been known and ignored at a level above them.

It doesn't make things better for Blizzard, but Kotick and the board now cannot pretend that all of those scandals hit them out of the blue and they themselves share responsibility because they knew of those issues but refused to implement any systemic changes.
Kotick could've interfered but chose not to, it doesn't absolve Blizzard itself of the guilt, but Activision is now unable to wash their hands clean.

Any talk of "Kotick should've kept Blizzard on a tighter leash" now goes out of the window.