Jennifer Oneal, the former co-head of Blizzard, had clear reasons for her departure. Less money and a lack of trust in the company.
Currently, many things are changing at Activision Blizzard – at least that was the hope. A few months after former Blizzard head J. Allen Brack resigned, there was a dual leadership. Mike Ybarra and Jennifer Oneal led the company together for a few months starting in August.
However, that did not last long, because barely 3 months after Oneal started her job, she released a public statement that she would be leaving Blizzard. Her plans were to support women in gaming in other ways.
Even at this announcement, it seemed strange that Oneal apparently had no concrete plans, but would “see how to implement this best.”
Now it has come to light: Behind her resignation were many other reasons.
Where does the information come from? The information in this article comes from a contribution by the Wall Street Journal. They recently published a major exposé on Activision Blizzard, which had many consequences. Even though the main figure of the article is the current head of Activision Blizzard (Bobby Kotick), there were also some details about Oneal.
This is why Oneal really left: According to the report, Jennifer Oneal wrote an email to Blizzard’s legal department just one month after starting her new job. She explained there that she lacked trust in Activision’s leadership team to truly change the culture in the company. She wrote:
It became clear that the company would never prioritize our people correctly.
In the same email, she explains that she was also a victim of sexual harassment during her career at Activision. She also mentions an Activision party she attended with Kotick in 2007. There were strippers, and the DJ encouraged the women “to drink more so that the men have a better time.”
Oneal earns less than Ybarra – in the same position
Another particularly absurd point seems to be that Oneal and Ybarra were appointed simultaneously to lead Blizzard, which should have been a sign of diversity and equality.
Even more incomprehensible is that Oneal, by her own statements, was paid less than her male colleague. According to reports, she fell victim to exactly the problems against which she had been brought into office.
In another email, Oneal explained that she made “the best decision for herself and her family” by leaving Activision Blizzard.
Community is outraged: All of this has also led to a lot of misunderstanding on Twitter and in the communities surrounding Activision Blizzard’s games. Another shitstorm has broken out. There is heated discussion about Kotick and Oneal. For example, serrol_ writes in the WoW subreddit:
We all knew that [Oneal’s] position was only supposed to be symbolic, but all Blizzard had to do was treat a single woman like a proper person, and they failed to do even that with someone in such a high position as her. It’s like being on a huge parking lot and not being allowed to hit the only lamp post, yet they somehow managed to hit it at 70 km/h. We all knew they were lying and that it would eventually come to light, but no one could have imagined it would happen this quickly.
The misunderstanding continues throughout the thread, with H-Ryougi also commenting:
Even if she [Oneal] was only appointed as a PR stunt to be co-leader, they still didn’t pay her the same as Ybarra.
You can’t make this stuff up.
If all the incidents surrounding Activision Blizzard were a movie, one would say: It’s becoming unrealistic. Reddit user itsdismay seems to agree:
Heaven’s sake, how can you mess this up? If this were a bad B-movie, I wouldn’t believe half of the stuff that is happening here.
The scandal surrounding Blizzard and Activision is once again gaining momentum. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight.
