Last week, Activision Blizzard was shaken by a lawsuit from a California state agency. In a special episode of the MeinMMO-Podcast, Leya and Schuhmann explain what the lawsuit is about and evaluate Activision and Blizzard’s initial reaction.
Overview: The “California Department of Fair Employment and Housing” has filed a lawsuit against the gaming publisher Activision Blizzard. The lawsuit follows a two-year investigation. Activision Blizzard is said to have a culture like that of a fraternity: women are the target of constant sexual harassment and are paid unequally. The lawsuit describes some shocking situations, particularly within the World of Warcraft team.
The news about the lawsuit caused a stir in the gaming industry. Former and current Blizzard employees have come forward to speak out. Over 2,000 employees announced a strike on July 28 to push for their demands for fair treatment from management.
We have covered the topic surrounding the Activision Blizzard scandal extensively in our articles:
- State agency sues Activision Blizzard – Serious accusations against WoW developers
- “Cocaine in the bathroom, sex in the lounge” – Scandal surrounding WoW developer Blizzard escalates
- WoW: Internal email from Blizzard’s CEO regarding the scandal goes public – “Fear and anger”
- WoW players demonstrate against Blizzard – staging sit-ins, killing NPCs
- WoW icon Chris Metzen comments on the Blizzard scandal: “We have failed”
- Work on WoW is currently on hold – developers are “too angry and traumatized”
- After the scandal, Activision Blizzard records the largest stock loss of the year, hitting a low
- WoW reacts: All references to Afrasiabi in the game have been removed
- Activision Blizzard CEO responds to scandal: People are being fired
- Blizzard employees are striking today, wanting to enforce their demands
Featuring:
- Leya Jankowski (Editor-in-Chief)
- Gerd Schuhmann (Head of Editorial)
You can listen here:
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In addition to the special, we recorded a news show this week. The topics this time were the player numbers in EVE Online, Final Fantasy vs. WoW, Cyberpunk 2077 on the PS4, and a new technology from billion-dollar corporation Tencent: Declining player numbers in summer 2021: Are all MMOs dying now? – News in the podcast.
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