“The forums here are specifically to discuss the game and related topics. Any topics not related to Diablo III, Battle. net, or Blizzard Entertainment 
are subject to deletion.”
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I love this forum because in addition to talking about the game, it’s also a source of hot news.
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Not as hot as those married workers 
ehhh blizz employees?!? /s it’s pretty cringe hearing these accusations
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From our former Diablo community manager (she is no longer with Blizzard).
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Also wondering how many of those 800-some employees were recently axed in hopes of sweeping all this under the rug.
Granted, the tech industry having its frat boy elements isn’t a new scoop for me, but there’s always that hope it hasn’t tainted things you do enjoy.
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Someone needs a hobby real bad…
Not just tech industry, but yeah. All those issues are very real and I had hoped it was not that pervasive at Blizzard. I hoped it was just a few jerks here and there.
I was not aware of the suicide. I was not aware of the “cube crawls”. I was not aware that senior mgt knew about this behavior and allowed it to continue. Esp Alex A.
I was aware of the disparity in pay, lack of promotions (that were well deserved), dismissive behavior of some staff, etc. I have known about it for years and trust the people who worked there I was friends with. They are not lying. These are not “lazy” or unskilled people who are trying to get a payout.
I know how it goes though…it has happened to me in tech. If you report to HR you get moved to another dead end project instead of the problem person being dealt with. I was told by mgt that is just how he is and never to be alone with him. I warned them that they were going to get sued eventually if they knowingly kept a sex pest/harasser/stalker around. On the salary side I got a GOOD manager eventually who went to senior and resolved a 30k pay disparity between me and others. They were hiring people right out of school, having me design the training program, train them, and supervise them - on top of doing my normal job and paying them 30k more than me for less work. I ended up leaving that job.
I mean, if you can’t get paid for the work you do, have no path up in a career AND have to deal with that kind of harassment and crap, why stay in industry?
EDIT - to be clear, I never worked at Blizzard. I have never personally witnessed any of the behavior in question. I mostly deal with the Community Managers and Forum Support Agents though so it is a small (and so far very nice), group of folks. My interactions with Devs have been during tours, workshops, or Blizzcon. Those were never an issue either - but it was all very public. Of course, I don’t get paid at all, so any of the pay/career stuff does not impact me - just the fall out of decisions Blizz makes that piss off the player community - and things that make my friends leave Blizzard.
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Good that this is coming to light, as disgusting as it is to hear about.
Seems like Activision Blizzard is in need of a new mass layoff. This time around just with a slightly different focus, toward both offenders and the management/HR who failed at their job.
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Somehow this surprises even me! I, from 52 years in the Aerospace Industry where we work Gov projects, we take harassment training, ethics training yearly. I would have thought the Game Development Industry is pretty progressive too.
Well the culture will change at Blizz after this lawsuit, too bad that’s what it takes.
Lowers my opinion of the company tremendously.
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All the “training” in the world does not help when the people who engage in the activity are the ones in charge and HR is involved. They have the training to check a mandatory box. They don’t actually ENFORCE it unless something goes public and blows up.
The Defense industry is anything but “progressive”. It is largely who you know and the issues of pay, promotion, career trajectory, and yes harassment, are very very common. Right down to the people who can’t behave on business trips.
Like you though, I had really hoped Blizzard was not like that. I had hoped it was limited to a few jerks or a bad team manager.
I suppose I should have thought it through more based on what I did know - but those stories are not mine to tell.
This breaks my heart to realize that my friends went through what I did - but in a place where it SHOULD have never been accepted like it is in other tech arenas.
It also hurts that the people I know there who are awesome humans who make great games - are going to be painted with the same brush.
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I don’t need any Blizzard products to live, I like their games, but there are others. That being the case, it’s a very easy decision to me to not buy a single Blizzard game from now on, not play any of their games, much less on their servers (if I crave some Diablo, I’ll play the plethora of other ARPGS that are available to choose from), and just overall stop supporting the company. Yes, I know that doesn’t mean anything to them. I’m just one person. But I’m sure I’m not gonna be the only one thinking like this.
As for those victims, my heart goes to them. I’m sure they joined the company because it was a good opportunity, or because they genuinely wanted to work on something they love. It’s enraging that things would end like that.
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It just beggars belief in me sometimes how people can be so stupid, so prejudiced, so immoral, to treat other people differently on such an irrelevant basis as gender.
Be it racism, sexism or other forms of prejudice, it’s a terrible shame on human culture that these things still exist in this day and age.
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I doubt anything will change and if it does, it will only be temporary. I see the best thing to happen is a false front. Activision is only in it for the money, same as Blizzard at this point. So long as they keep making their price point, they will only change or “change” what they need to.
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I am not really sure that is the answer. You have a right to do so of course and I am not saying we should reward poor work environments, but we don’t know the extent of the issues and who they apply to. Kind of sucks to not support games like Diablo 4 when tons of people who probably had absolutely nothing to do with this and are pouring all of their time, effort, and passion into their work, then don’t get the recognition they deserve.
Unfortunately lots of people in this world suck, and lots of people have jobs. The overlap is undeniable. It is up to management to determine this and enforce those rules. That doesn’t mean firing someone who innocently asked another person out on a date, but obviously doesn’t mean putting up with (or even promoting) behavior that is intentionally sexist and making others uncomfortable repeatedly.
Here’s hoping the issues gets resolved correctly and anyone deserving of consequences receives them, while others are able to move on and get back to what they enjoy doing.
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I don’t doubt there are great people there, and that they’re working hard on D4. But the company and it’s higher ups have the responsibility to answer for those things. It’s the burden of leadership. When refusing to buy the game, I’m protesting to the leaders and the company’s name, more than the devs themselves.
Should a big positive change happen, and I don’t doubt it can happen, I’ll be happy to support them again
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I get that and to each their own. I just know how it goes. The few ruin it for the many. I have worked in environments in the past that had both men being sexist towards women and women being sexist towards men (yes, that happens too), both equally outlandish things were said. but 99% of the staff at the company were nice people who worked hard and cared about others and the customers. But yes, the leaders need to be held responsible to some degree, depending on the circumstances, if they knew or were involved. It is a tricky line to walk for sure and one we really shouldn’t have to, but unfortunately you have people out there that just don’t have common sense.
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Me not buying D4 isn’t going to change anything. The damage has been done, a court case is pending, and bad press is all over AB right now something will happen whether or not it’s enough for some, we’ll see.
At the end if the day pretty much every company out there is garbage. So we’d have to be self sustaining to keep a high moral standing. I’m sure most of us will not stop using smartphones and devices, computers, consoles and anything else that uses microchips. Yet, they use slave labor which is worse(it’s all bad) then some sexual harassment. I mean Foxconn or apple had to put netting around facilities to stop slave workers and indentured workers from committing suicide by jumping off the top of the buildings.
I get the, “but you live in a society” delima about my comments above. I just feel these boycotts are self serving to make the individual feel good about doing nothing. If you want to do something and boycott take the money you were going to spend on the gsme and donate it to places that help fight these things, bring awareness, or help the survivors of these things.
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I doubt you are correct. You need to reassess your opinion. It will cost Blizz a lot of money before this is though. Shareholders will demand it, public opinion will demand it. The State of California will demand it and they will monitor it. (either if the lawsuit is won by CA or a negotiated settlement is made)
If found guilty or Blizz concedes a negotiated settlement, it will cost them a lot of money period. I would not be surprised to see some fairly high heads roll, that mind you is relative to the extent of this issue brought out in court and the media.
California culture at it’s best.
Boycotts are just virtue signaling. If you want change real change support the companies doing the right thing. The rest will come into line.
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I am not persuaded. California has gone off the liberal deep end, and the allegations are based on outcomes (that the final product is a male-heavy leadership).
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