Three more important employees of Blizzard are gone. Among them is the head of Diablo IV, as well as veteran WoW developers.
For several weeks now, almost everything at Activision Blizzard has revolved around the major sexism and discrimination scandal. After it became known that there is a strongly misogynistic work environment at Blizzard, which includes sexual harassment, and a lawsuit was filed by the state of California, there are now more and more changes being made.
What has happened now? Three more important people no longer work at Blizzard. Luis Barriga, Jesse McCree, and Jonathan LeCraft have all left the company and are no longer listed as employees at Blizzard.
Who were these employees? All three developers were long-time employees of Blizzard who worked on many projects.
- Luis Barriga was in a key position until his departure. He was the Game Director of Diablo IV, thus significantly responsible for decisions related to the game. Over the past 15 years, he worked on the WoW expansions The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm, and later also on Diablo III: Reaper of Souls.
- Jesse McCree worked at Blizzard for 16 years, primarily on WoW expansions and Diablo III. Most recently as Lead Level Designer for Diablo IV.
- Jonathan LeCraft was a Senior Game Designer for World of Warcraft for many years. He had been working on various WoW expansions since 2005.
Players demand renaming of Overwatch character: Interestingly, Jesse McCree apparently was the namesake for the Overwatch hero of the same name. Some players are now calling for a renaming of the cowboy. The same goes for a whole range of characters in World of Warcraft who are also named after McCree.
A similar action has already been taken with characters that reminded players of former employee Alex Afrasiabi. Those characters were all renamed. Previously, thousands of players had repeatedly spat on or killed those characters.
Why did the 3 leave? Why Barriga, McCree, and LeCraft left Blizzard is not publicly known. However, there are many speculations and theories about it. All three were seen in the controversial “Cosby Suite” photo, and McCree was also involved in one of the chat logs that circulated a few weeks ago.
What about the vacant positions? Blizzard has mentioned to Kotaku that the vacant positions have already been filled. It was stated in a response from Blizzard:
We have a long list of talented developers ready to fill these positions, and new leadership has been put in place where it seemed appropriate. We are confident in our ability to continue evolving, delivering amazing experiences for our players, and ensuring that [Blizzard] is a safe and productive working environment for all.
It seems that Blizzard is responding to demands for change and sifting out more problematic employees.
