An internal email from Blizzard CEO J. Allen Brack has been made public today. In the email, Brack addresses the thousands of employees at Blizzard (WoW, Hearthstone, Diablo 3, Overwatch). He comments on the lawsuit from a California agency that reveals deep misconduct at Activision Blizzard.
This is the situation:
- A California agency has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. The company is accused of discriminating against female employees. They are said to be paid less and Activision Blizzard denies them opportunities for advancement. The lawsuit also mentions examples of sexual harassment that shocked many.
- Activision Blizzard expressed disgust in an initial public statement regarding the lawsuit. They accused the officials of acting irresponsibly and shamefully. Activision Blizzard even subtly threatened to leave the state of California. Especially, the fact that a suicide of an employee became part of the lawsuit was vehemently denied. They stated that the culture at Blizzard had significantly improved in recent years.
- A mail from J. Allen Brack to the Blizzard staff has now become public: It becomes clear how deep the uncertainty at Blizzard runs.
Internal email to Blizzard employees leaks to the outside
Where did the mail come from? It was published by journalist Jason Schreier. He apparently received it from a source at Blizzard.
Is the email authentic? One can assume so. It is known that Jason Schreier has many contacts in large studios and often has early access to insider information that later turns out to be true.
In recent years, he has publicly presented himself as the person who can be contacted by angry or disappointed employees of a gaming company when they have a problem and want to ensure that the journalist maintains the confidentiality of the source.
This is what the internal mail says: Brack begins the mail with:
“A lot of emotions arose for me yesterday and I know: They did for you too. The allegations and the pain of current and former employees are extremely concerning.
I know that many of you wish for more clarity. However, we cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing process. What I can say is: The behavior described in the allegations is absolutely unacceptable.”
J. Allen Brack
Brack emphasizes that things like misogyny, discrimination, or harassment are rejected. Everyone should feel safe at Blizzard. He admires the courage it takes to make such allegations public. Brack promises to initiate internal and – if necessary – external investigations.
It is important that Blizzard works on its culture just as much as on its games. The values should be the guiding star.
It is said that the leadership team and Brack himself are now holding meetings with many employees to answer questions and discuss how they can move forward from here. People could approach any manager, any HR partner, and anyone from the legal team, as well as any of the bosses. Additionally, they could also anonymously contact people outside of Blizzard if they feel more comfortable doing so.
At the end of the mail, Brack says he himself feels “anger and rage”, but he is also grateful that he can work with such great leaders and thousands of employees to achieve continuous improvements.
On Twitter, former employees cry tears of joy and in WoW, players kill an NPC
This preceded the mail: The closer examination of the lawsuit and the initial reactions led to increasing anger against Blizzard throughout the day on July 22, which even led to protests in the games:
- In WoW, there were sit-ins in protest. Players also killed an NPC that represents a developer named in the lawsuit as a sexual harasser
- In Hearthstone, female influencers canceled their card reveals for the next expansion in protest
- In the public forums, the mood is low to hostile against Blizzard
After the lawsuit against Blizzard became public, several former female employees took to Twitter to further confirm and even amplify the accusations made in the lawsuit. Suddenly, there was talk of sex in game lounges and cocaine in the bathrooms (via twitter).
In the tweets, the women appeared traumatized by their time at Blizzard. One former employee said she felt disgusted in recent years when reading that her former abusers were now so successful at Blizzard. It was a huge relief to feel that the allegations were now public (via twitter).
The initial response from Blizzard was harshly criticized. In their first response, the company emphasized that many of the allegations “are in the past” and that they have made great progress since then.
We have dealt with the content of the lawsuit extensively in an article on MeinMMO:
Government agency sues Activision Blizzard – Severe allegations against WoW developers
