A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick to All Employees

[zorkuus]

Boohoo, I made an assumption about where you're from.

That isn't the only thing you assumed, you also assumed my political affiliation etc.

bye

[TrollHunter3000]

If this was true then we wouldn't be constantly hearing attacks about how "Position of power X" has "too many white males", THIS VERY LAWSUIT INCLUDED.

Don't fool yourself: this isn't about equality of opportunity but equality of outcome. They don't want what you describe, an equal fair chance for all.
They want to SEE a 50:50 ratio shift of men and women only in positions of authority, merits and talent be damned.

Diversity, in the way it's being put in practice today, is all about exclusion of the majority until a forced outcome of %, %, % of skin colors and sexes is achieved.
Opportunity is the last thing they care about.

In a situation where a company would do what you describe, hiring without prejudice, but the end result still came out to be a majority of men there, they would still complain, attack and try to destroy that company. They don't want opportunity, they want outcome.

They literally have incidents of females not being promoted simply because they were pregnant. How is that about equality of outcome and not opportunity?

You seem to not understand there is entire field of practice within Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts that uses statistical modelling to determine expected outcomes based on dozens and dozens of factors. It's not as simple as "we want x% of y"

[Kolvarg]

Is there some logical reason why that would be the case? It's possible the applicants weren't a very diverse group

For many jobs, the simple reason is that there are simply more people with X characteristics going into that area.

I mean, do you think that the reason why there are vastly more female nurses than male nurses is that recruiters actively discriminate against men? Or is it simply that there's a vastly superior number of female applicants in the first place?

I'm not saying there is or isn't discrimination in hiring in game development or even tech in general, for instance, but the main reason there are so many white males in tech, I would guess, is that there is a substantially higher number of white males aspiring to join that industry and studying towards that purpose.

I can't say if it's still the case, but if you'd visit a computer science class on most universities 10/20/30 years ago, you'd probably have your answer.

[Magnagarde]

It's absolutely disgusting that you believe "many are potentially doing this". This kind of rhetoric minimizes the accomplishments of those groups of people who persevered through the existing barriers. You don't think men making jokes about raping women wouldn't make women uncomfortable? What the fuck is wrong with you? You downplay this as "dick jokes" but the lawsuit indicates it's far worse than that.

I highly advise you educate yourself more on unconscious bias, anecdotal evidence, systemic issues and how they have a large scale impact before you continue giving your opinion on this matter at all.

Unconcious bias doesn't exist(only a lack of understanding, a lack of education and an ignorant upbringing - combined to varying degrees - can exist), anecdotal evidence can indeed exist but is irrelevant to what I talked about, systemic issues of the scale that you mention don't exist and I'll give my opinion on the matter every single time, because I'm entitled to it as I have experienced the opposite throughout my life.

You don't think men making jokes about raping women wouldn't make women uncomfortable? What the fuck is wrong with you? You downplay this as "dick jokes" but the lawsuit indicates it's far worse than that.

I know a lot of people who make such jokes and they haven't raped or sexually harassed anyone. Some people are simply into dark and edgy humour. What the lawsuit indicates is what the lawsuit will have to prove in the end.

[DingDongKing]

That isn't the only thing you assumed, you also assumed my political affiliation etc.

bye

Again, you can sit and cry about the assumptions or you can read the information I provided.

But okay, I'll throw you a bone. I'm really sorry I assumed you were an American who's right wing. Happy?

Unconcious bias doesn't exist, anecdotal evidence exists, systemic issues of the scale that you mention don't exist and I'll give my opinion on the matter because I'm from Europe and have an underpriviledged background.

Unconscious bias absolutely exists. Ben Shapiro can cry about it all day, but it exists.

[TrollHunter3000]

Skill, expertise, working experience and positive human characteristics(ie cooperability, will to continously improve, will to impart knowledge and expertise upon others, a sense of responsibility) matter more than all elements of diversity combined. Having 9 female nurses that are all black, who have working experience and who are good with patients, is better than having 3 white, 3 black and 3 asian nurses, with half of them being inexperienced and the experienced half having bad behavioural patterns.

No shit, do you for some reason think that any particular demographic of people would be any more or less qualified on average than another demographic of people? If not, then the diversity of those ultimately selected for something, should mirror the diversity of those who applied (with that expectation weighted by relevant factors). That applicant pool should mirror what's available in the job market. If there is an inequality in outcome, then either you think one group is just better than another on average or there is an inequity in that process.

[h4rr0d]

Implying someone got their job to meet a quota is extremely offensive and shows how little you know about this topic.

Implying you do not believe, that getting hired because you belong to a group that is underrepresented in a given industry to appear more diverse is a thing that happens, especially in a place like SoCal/Silicon valley shows you either are naive, or completely oblivious to what has been happening over the last decade.
I'm not saying they would just hire random person from the street over someone qualified, but someone less qualified if it meant incerasing diversity, then yes.

[Nimin]

Ah yes, of course. So, we just ignore that current injustices that are happening day-to-day and "move on"? We allow racism and discrimination to remain untouched as we "move forward"? Yes, how foolish of me. Clearly this will fix all our problems and get rid of that hate you were talking about.

We have a system of law designed to fix those injustices, you don't need to create special racial treatment that's just a new form of discrimination for others to combat it.
You can't remedy discrimination by creating new discrimination.

And Nimin, do you really think it works that way? That you can just go, "Aww gee shucks, even though the system is designed to step on me and keep me down, all I have to do is just stop crying and everything will be alright!" Holy fuck, talk about naive. This isn't about individual circumstances, though those definitely have an effect that shouldn't be ignored, it's about how the law, and the economy, and rules, and perceptions are set against minorities, or set in favor of the majority, rather than being equal.

Tone down the victim narrative now.
Things aren't nearly as bad as you're pretending them to be, and it's pretty much textbook neomarxist "down with the Usa" propaganda.

Also, "centuries ago"? You do know that Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era were less than a hundred years ago, right? You do understand that the position your grandparents are in affects your parents, and that affects you, RIGHT?

I'm not responsible for stuff that people with no relation to me did 100 years ago, still.

I'll give you an example. My grandparents are farmers, and have been their whole lives. If they had been black, chances are they would've struggled to purchase the land that they worked for decades, because the system has HISTORICALLY been heavily biased or outright hostile against black people. My entire family might not have been born, or would've been born in completely different circumstances, thus leading to ME not being born. If you can't understand how this shit can affect people on a generational scale, then I don't know what to tell you.

You might wanna tell me facts and not made up what ifs.

[DingDongKing]

We have a system of law designed to fix those injustices, you don't need to create special racial treatment that's just a new form of discrimination for others to combat it.
You can't remedy discrimination by creating new discrimination.



Tone down the victim narrative now.
Things aren't nearly as bad as you're pretending them to be, and it's pretty much textbook neomarxist "down with the Usa" propaganda.



I'm not responsible for stuff that people with no relation to me did 100 years ago, still.



You might wanna tell me facts and not made up what ifs.

BAHAHAHAHA, he just said he relies on the courts of law to provide justice for all.

I don't even fucking know what the point is of talking to someone like that. The ignorance is staggering.

[Magnagarde]

No shit, do you for some reason think that any particular demographic of people would be any more or less qualified on average than another demographic of people? If not, then the diversity of those ultimately selected for something, should mirror the diversity of those who applied (with that expectation weighted by relevant factors). That applicant pool should mirror what's available in the job market. If there is an inequality in outcome, then either you think one group is just better than another on average or there is an inequity in that process.

If there's an inequality of outcome in regards to this, it means that certain people were found to be less adequate for a position. Equality of outcome should never exist. And yes, certain ethnic and racial groups, coupled with sexual identity, often define interests and interests often define skillsets.

[TrollHunter3000]

Is there some logical reason why it couldn't be the case? The chances aren't big, but it is possible.

Why should anyone ask themselves why only white guys are applying? You're trying to hire people that want to work and if someone doesn't want to have a specific job, they won't apply.

There's no reason to think that, if only white people apply for a job, that a lot of talent is being missed out on.

Is there a logical reason why a demographic of people wouldn't be better for a job? Because I seriously doubt your modern day desk job is going have any particular genetics based on race, sex, sexuality, etc providing an advantage.

Yeah, you're obviously ignorant as fuck in this field to the point you don't even understand the basics. If only white guys are applying for a job, it's absolutely insane to me that you think there isn't an issue with how that job is being marketed or what the reputation of that company is. And you not understanding that top talent is being missed out on if only white guys are applying means you believe only white guys exist among the top talent. Pretty fucking racist and sexist.

[Stormwolf64]

Ah yes, of course. So, we just ignore that current injustices that are happening day-to-day and "move on"? We allow racism and discrimination to remain untouched as we "move forward"? Yes, how foolish of me. Clearly this will fix all our problems and get rid of that hate you were talking about.

And Nimin, do you really think it works that way? That you can just go, "Aww gee shucks, even though the system is designed to step on me and keep me down, all I have to do is just stop crying and everything will be alright!" Holy fuck, talk about naive. This isn't about individual circumstances, though those definitely have an effect that shouldn't be ignored, it's about how the law, and the economy, and rules, and perceptions are set against minorities, or set in favor of the majority, rather than being equal.

Also, "centuries ago"? You do know that Jim Crow and the Civil Rights era were less than a hundred years ago, right? You do understand that the position your grandparents are in affects your parents, and that affects you, RIGHT?

I'll give you an example. My grandparents are farmers, and have been their whole lives. If they had been black, chances are they would've struggled to purchase the land that they worked for decades, because the system has HISTORICALLY been heavily biased or outright hostile against black people. My entire family might not have been born, or would've been born in completely different circumstances, thus leading to ME not being born. If you can't understand how this shit can affect people on a generational scale, then I don't know what to tell you.

You conveniently ignored the "walk together hand in hand" bit. What do you imagine it means?

[TrollHunter3000]

Examples please?

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?h...s+productivity

[Straga21]

Not sure, if you are trolling or not, but one of the complaint listed in the lawsuit is that women were not promoted(even when better qualified than the other candidates) and lacked any real presence in leadership. So, theoretically, putting more women in position could have prevented a lot of sexual harassment since they could have a support system.

Yeah, not sure if you worked anywhere in your life, but people are entitled assholes in every workplace, and most promotions have nothing to do with merit,but how much they sucked up to their bosses. Most of these "better qualified female workers" are :
a) nowhere near qualified enough just have a huge ego and think they are better than their coworkers.
b) can't accept the fact that the person that was promoted wasn't promoted cause he is a male but because he is all up in the boss's asshole.

But just like riot, and Ubisoft, people are jumping on the metoo wagon to score some easy money.

[TrollHunter3000]

Maybe they are the group who are the most interested in the subject matter (whatever it is)?
Just like some other group might be better at something they are more interested in.

Then that would be reflected when looking at the available job market. So, if it doesn't match that available job market, that would indicate an outreach issue.

[Al Gorefiend]

And maybe this is the case. But is this sort of thinking, measuring suffering by millimeters and targeting our social empathy with laser precision, really how we make things better instead of just accepting that people suffer and trying to make things better for people in general with universalist language and action?

I do think eventually, in a perfect world, we will speak to one another with equal passion and community.

I think right now we need to take the action to reach that point and the fact whites are the primary "victims" of minorities reaching power positions just shows which people held it for so long that they fear a world without it

[Magnagarde]

Yeah, you're obviously ignorant as fuck in this field to the point you don't even understand the basics. If only white guys are applying for a job, it's absolutely insane to me that you think there isn't an issue with how that job is being marketed or what the reputation of that company is. And you not understanding that top talent is being missed out on if only white guys are applying means you believe only white guys exist among the top talent. Pretty fucking racist and sexist.

If 10 whites guys applied for the job and I needed to hire 5 employees, I'd hire the best 5 white guys because those are the people that applied. It is a very simple logic to follow. I'd do the same if 10 black guys applied and I had to hire 5 employees once again; I'd pick the ones most suitable for the job they're being hired for and it would be only black guys. I wouldn't break my head over how many of this or that group applied because that's an inane thing to do.

What you don't understand is that diversity hiring and good business practice don't necessarily go hand in hand. That's why you're immediately spewing buzzword classifications.

[TrollHunter3000]

If you actually look back on things, you'll see that most of these iconic franchises and their best installments were created by an all-male and all-white team of dudes who were, without any negative connotation, nerds for tabletop RPG games and games in general.

Doesn't mean they couldn't have been better if other groups of people were included.

- - - Updated - - -

snip

Do you have a point? Not sure how this is relevant to what you quoted.

[DingDongKing]

Yeah, not sure if you worked anywhere in your life, but people are entitled assholes in every workplace, and most promotions have nothing to do with merit,but how much they sucked up to their bosses. Most of these "better qualified female workers" are :
a) nowhere near qualified enough just have a huge ego and think they are better than their coworkers.
b) can't accept the fact that the person that was promoted wasn't promoted cause he is a male but because he is all up in the boss's asshole.

But just like riot, and Ubisoft, people are jumping on the metoo wagon to score some easy money.

Imagine if even 2 or 3 people within leadership at Blizzard had the same deranged notions about women in the workplace as you do.

Not hard to then understand why it's such a fucked up place to work.

Harassment takes place. Victim complains. Straga21 is the manager responsible for handling the complaint. 'This is just metoo shit'.

[Nimin]

Is there some logical reason why that would be the case?

It's been studied and proved that males on average tend do be more interested in the "mechanical" aspect of things and women more in the "people" side of stuff.
It's the reason why there's a ton of male mechanics and tons of female nurses, for example.

It's no surprise that most if not all the best vidya that have ever been produced came from all-male neckbeard teams, they're deep into their craft while an all-female team might just touch surface level, like we saw happen in e-sports tournaments.
This truth might be unpleasant to some but it's true nonetheless.