The accusations of sexism were taken very seriously by the team at World of Warcraft. But the boss thinks that we are on a very good path.
Important days are ahead for World of Warcraft, as the next expansion “Dragonflight” is on the horizon. This is not only of great importance for WoW, as Shadowlands scared off many players, but also for Blizzard. After all, Blizzard has struggled with many scandals in recent years and the biggest was probably the sexism scandal – to which many investigations are still ongoing.
Where do the statements come from? In an interview with Preach, the Game Director of WoW, Ion Hazzikostas, also talked about these issues. Preach asked how Blizzard had dealt with the turbulent last years. After all, there was not only the Covid pandemic, which led to a lot of “home office” at Blizzard, but also the allegations of harassment and sexism, especially within the WoW team. Hazzikostas said:
The other ‘big event’ last year – it triggered a prolonged period of self-reflection for the entire team. With the onset last summer, we looked inward at our culture and our past to honestly ask ourselves: “Are we who the internet says we are? Is this who we really are?”
And the answer we came to was: “No”. But we certainly do not want to be that way and there should be no possibility for us to become that. So how do we change our processes, how do we develop a culture of feedback, with listening, openness, and trust, that ensures that even the slightest hint of inappropriateness is brought up and addressed? So that we never even come close to what the accusations from many years ago state.
What does ‘the internet’ mean? What Hazzikostas is referring to are the opinions of many that have been found in recent years under posts surrounding the allegations of sexism and abuse. The criticism of Blizzard was significant and the opinions were often very drastic. The studio was said to be rife with toxic masculinity and a culture of harassment, where men would drunkenly roam the offices, coming uncomfortably close to the female employees.
Whether Blizzard has really improved in this regard and whether these problems within the WoW team belong only to the past is probably not easy to determine. However, at least the individuals with whom Preach spoke on the Blizzard campus seem to be clearly positive about it.
What is your assessment of this issue? Should we give the WoW team and Blizzard the opportunity to show that things have improved? Or have they “missed their chance”?
