{"id":3456,"date":"2022-01-17T23:35:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T23:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/17\/dozens-exited-activision-blizzard-over-misconduct-ceo-tried-to-keep-departures-quiet-report\/"},"modified":"2022-01-17T23:35:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T23:35:04","slug":"dozens-exited-activision-blizzard-over-misconduct-ceo-tried-to-keep-departures-quiet-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/17\/dozens-exited-activision-blizzard-over-misconduct-ceo-tried-to-keep-departures-quiet-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens ‘exited’ Activision Blizzard over misconduct, CEO tried to keep departures quiet: report"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Thirty-seven employees have \u201cexited\u201d from Activision Blizzard amid the gaming publisher\u2019s workplace misconduct scandals, according to\u00a0The Wall Street Journal<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>citing internal documents.<\/p>\n

A further 44 employees have been disciplined, Activision Blizzard spokesperson Helaine Klasky told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Since last summer, the company has been facing a lawsuit from California\u2019s Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging years of fostering a \u201cfrat boy culture\u201d<\/a> that led to sexual harassment, unfair hiring practices and other forms of mistreatment of women.<\/p>\n

However, given the ambiguity surrounding the word \u201cexited,\u201d it\u2019s unclear exactly how many of those 37 people left voluntarily versus being pushed out. Likewise, Activision Blizzard wouldn\u2019t specify exactly what form of disciplinary action has been taken against the 44 other employees.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0<\/em>reports that Activision Blizzard collected around 700 employee complaints who expressed concerns of workplace misconduct, although the company denied this to the outlet. Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, also reportedly shut down the release of a company report summarizing all of the above information to address the allegations. According to The Wall Street Journal<\/em>, Kotick felt the report would make the company\u2019s issues seem bigger than what has already been revealed.<\/p>\n

Kotick himself has been the subject of immense scrutiny, especially following a November report from\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0<\/em><\/a>alleging that he not only knew about the \u201cfrat boy culture,\u201d but actively worked to keep it quiet. More than 1,000 Activision Blizzard employees quickly signed a petition calling for Kotick to resign<\/a>, although the executive has said he would only consider doing so if the workplace issues aren\u2019t fixed \u201cwith speed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Activision Blizzard i<\/a>s also facing a strike from dozens of developers at its Raven studio<\/a>, which works on its massively popular\u00a0Call of Duty: Warzone <\/em>game. The workers were protesting the sudden termination of a dozen quality assurance (QA) contractors. The ABK Workers Alliance, which represents employees at Activision, Blizzard and King, has condemned the company for its \u201csilence\u201d over these protests<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All the while,\u00a0Warzone\u00a0<\/em>players have been reporting numerous bugs in the game. Speaking to\u00a0The Washington Post<\/em><\/a>, multiple unnamed QA testers attributed these issues to the QA workers who were laid off from Raven. \u201cYou can\u2019t just lose some of your hardest-working people and expect nothing to happen,\u201d one of them told The Washington Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe has been set up to support the ABK Workers Alliance \u2014 you can check that out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I<\/em>mage credit:\u00a0Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Source: The Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n