Oneal joined Blizzard early in 2021 after five years as the studio head of Vicarious Visions, which merged with Blizzard in January. He's replaced by a pair of co-leaders, Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra. Allen Brack leaves his position as head of the studio.
According to the report, Activision's oversight only exacerbated issues with budget cuts, tight deadlines, and additional stress. Current and former employees shared stories including the prevalent culture of drinking, hazing, and sexual harassment. Diablo 4 game director Louis Barriga, lead level designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft have all parted with Blizzard, Activision confirms.Īugust 6: Bloomberg publishes a report revealing additional details about the "frat boy" work culture and "rock-star" mentality present throughout Blizzard's history after its success with World of Warcraft. "We will be more thoughtful and discerning about adding real world references in future Overwatch content," the developer said.Īugust 11: Three long-time members of Blizzard Entertainment leadership depart the company. Blizzard also committed to no longer naming characters after real life people. The decision came about a month after Blizzard announced plans to remove references to former creative director Alex Afrasiabi, who was directly named in the lawsuit. September 14: Activision Blizzard employees and an organization called the Communication Workers of America file an unfair labor practice suit with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Blizzard told employees they cannot talk about "wages, hours, and working conditions" or related investigations, and also "threatened or disciplined employees on account of protected concerted activity."Īugust 26: After his namesake left the company, Blizzard decided to rename McCree in Overwatch. September 17: Blizzard's chief legal officer departs the company after three years. Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an investigation concerning the Company’s disclosures regarding employment matters and related issues." Activision Blizzard confirmed to PC Gamer that "the U.S. The SEC has subpoenaed executives, including CEO Bobby Kotick. September 20: The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Activision Blizzard's handling of employee complaints of sexual misconduct and discrimination. We remain committed to addressing all workplace issues in a forthright and prompt manner."īloomberg also reports that "well-respected" Overwatch 2 executive producer Chacko Sonny told Blizzard developers he's leaving the company on Friday. September 21: Activision Blizzard publishes a press release titled "Update on workplace initiatives" that states "we continue to work in good faith with regulators to address and resolve past workplace issues, we also continue to move ahead with our own initiatives to ensure that we are the very best place to work. The publisher said it wants to increase the percentage of workers who identify as women or non-binary by 50%, in part by investing $250 million into game and tech diversity initiatives. In a press release on the same day, Activision Blizzard addresses additional efforts towards employee demands including waiving mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment and discrimination claims. October 28: Activision CEO Bobby Kotick announces a personal pay cut in total compensation to $62,500 for the year. She also reported to Activision Blizzard's legal department that she had been sexually harassed at the company, saying "I have been tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against." It was later revealed in November that Oneal was paid less than her co-lead Mike Ybarra prior to resigning. November 2: Blizzard co-head Jen Oneal steps down just 3 months after taking the job.
They have also signed a petition with over 700 signatures and counting demanding Kotick be removed.
Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout following the report.
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