A major restructuring appears to be taking place at Blizzard. According to reports, over 20 employees have been laid off at the makers of World of Warcraft, while 20 others are facing disciplinary measures. At the same time, new positions are being created in other departments.
This is the situation:
- Since July 2021, Activision Blizzard has been involved in a massive sexism scandal – the company has reportedly maintained a toxic “frat boy culture”
- As a result, many notable employees have left the studio, including Blizzard chief J. Allen Brack and most recently, Diablo 4 director Luis Barriga
- Since then, Blizzard has been working to combat internal issues and is gradually removing references to employees or sexual acts from the games
- Now it has been revealed that 20 more employees have been laid off and 19 new hires have been made
What is happening at Blizzard right now? After the company appears to be “cleaning house”, according to a report by the Financial Times, 20 employees have left the company (behind a paywall, via TheVerge.com).
In July, CEO Bobby Kotick announced that there would be layoffs.
Disciplinary measures have been initiated against 20 more employees. These actions followed numerous other resignations. No names were mentioned. Even some executives have been laid off, but no one else from the board.
In an open letter, Fran Townsend, Chairperson for Internal Affairs, mentions that 19 additional positions have been created. These are located in the “Ethics & Compliance” team, which is the department for equality and corporate culture.
“No matter what position you hold – We will act on misconduct”
This is what Blizzard says: In an interview with the Financial Times, Townsend spoke about the measures that are now to be enforced at Blizzard. It states:
“It doesn’t matter what position you hold or what your job is. If you engage in any misconduct or are a team leader who tolerates a culture that does not align with our values, we will act.”
Townsend herself has previously been embroiled in controversy. As a former Executive Sponsor of the Women’s Network at Blizzard, she apparently defended the company. 3,000 employees demanded her resignation from this position, which she announced shortly thereafter.
What is the current status? Since the beginning of the scandal, numerous notable employees have left the company, apparently in connection with the allegations. Among them is also the former head of Blizzard, J. Allen Brack.
After Brack’s departure, a new leadership duo took charge of Blizzard: Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra are now responsible and represent an entirely new direction in terms of equality.
Ybarra is especially regarded as popular in the WoW community, as he himself is an avid gamer. However, he recently became somewhat unpopular due to his playing style.
Additionally, Blizzard is currently removing numerous references from the games, such as McCree from Overwatch or suggestive jokes from World of Warcraft. However, this does not sit well with all fans. They see it as a sign that work is being done in the wrong places. Even MeinMMO demon Cortyn finds the current approach not entirely right:
Writing about Blizzard and World of Warcraft has become nothing but torment
