This can be seen in the latest tweet about WoW. It is actually about a tournament in WoW Classic – but the responses are full of biting allusions and questions about the current situation at Blizzard.
Internal email further inflames the situation
This is further inflaming the situation: In recent days, some former bosses at Blizzard have spoken out, such as Chris Metzen or Mike Morhaime. They took part of the blame and apologized for allowing such things to happen under their supervision. They emphasized that they were not aware of the extent of the occurrences.
They faced harsh criticism on Twitter. They were accused of having ignored the occurrences.
Internal emails have also leaked to the public, including those from Blizzard CEO J Allen Brack or from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. They labeled the behavior described in the lawsuit as “unacceptable,” announced investigations, and many discussions.
However, the statement from Fran Townsend, who worked for US President George W. Bush and is now “Chief Compliance Officer” at Activision Blizzard, thus actually responsible for such allegations, particularly stood out. Townsend has only been with Activision Blizzard for 4 months. She stated (via twitter):
- the allegations paint a distorted and false picture of the company
- some allegations are factually inaccurate, old, and taken out of context – some over 10 years old
- Activision is a great company with good values today
This email apparently particularly upset employees. Townsend’s statements were sharply criticized publicly – just like Activision Blizzard’s official statement.
In recent days, some former employees of Blizzard have come forward:
“Cocaine in the bathroom, sex in the lounge” – scandal around WoW developer Blizzard escalates
At Blizzard, not much work is being done at the moment, says one of the developers there: The work on World of Warcraft (WoW) is currently almost completely at a standstill. The staff are too angry about how Activision Blizzard is handling the lawsuit regarding sexism. The huge social media channels of all “Activision-Blizzard” games from Call of Duty to Overwatch have also been silent for 4 days, since July 21st.
Who is speaking? The developer Jeff Hamilton is speaking. He is a “Senior System Designer” at WoW and works in Irvine, California.
Here’s what he says:
“I can tell you, almost no work is being done on World of Warcraft at the moment while this obscene process is ongoing. And that helps no one – not the players, not the developers, not the shareholders.
Activision’s response to the incidents has taken a group of the best developers in the world and made them so angry and traumatized that they are unable to work on a great game anymore.”
Jeff Hamilton
What does he criticize? Hamilton finds especially the response from Activision Blizzard to the lawsuit “absolutely unacceptable.”
Activision Blizzard had responded to the lawsuit in a statement, claiming the allegations were “false and twisted.” Between the lines, they even threatened to leave California. The agency’s lawsuit was labeled “irresponsible.” They also criticized the agency’s officials.
According to Hamilton, it is terrible to take the story of a victim and wield it as a rhetorical club. It is disgraceful to respond to such allegations with anything other than a well-thought-out plan to stop the abuse.
Activision Blizzard is silent on social media
What else is noticeable: Not only is work on WoW currently on hold, but there is an oppressive silence surrounding all of Activision Blizzard, as reported by the US site Kotaku.
All social media accounts have been silent since July 21st. This applies to:
- Call of Duty
- Crash Bandicoot
- Diablo
- Overwatch
- World of Warcraft
- and many more.
Either hardly anyone is working there right now or Activision Blizzard understands that any tweet or Facebook post would provoke a strong backlash at the moment.
This can be seen in the latest tweet about WoW. It is actually about a tournament in WoW Classic – but the responses are full of biting allusions and questions about the current situation at Blizzard.
Internal email further inflames the situation
This is further inflaming the situation: In recent days, some former bosses at Blizzard have spoken out, such as Chris Metzen or Mike Morhaime. They took part of the blame and apologized for allowing such things to happen under their supervision. They emphasized that they were not aware of the extent of the occurrences.
They faced harsh criticism on Twitter. They were accused of having ignored the occurrences.
Internal emails have also leaked to the public, including those from Blizzard CEO J Allen Brack or from Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. They labeled the behavior described in the lawsuit as “unacceptable,” announced investigations, and many discussions.
However, the statement from Fran Townsend, who worked for US President George W. Bush and is now “Chief Compliance Officer” at Activision Blizzard, thus actually responsible for such allegations, particularly stood out. Townsend has only been with Activision Blizzard for 4 months. She stated (via twitter):
- the allegations paint a distorted and false picture of the company
- some allegations are factually inaccurate, old, and taken out of context – some over 10 years old
- Activision is a great company with good values today
This email apparently particularly upset employees. Townsend’s statements were sharply criticized publicly – just like Activision Blizzard’s official statement.
In recent days, some former employees of Blizzard have come forward:
“Cocaine in the bathroom, sex in the lounge” – scandal around WoW developer Blizzard escalates
