Prompted by lawsuits and allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination, Activision Blizzard announced in late October it was making a committment towards elevating its female and non-binary demographics by 50%. To provide transparency towards this goal, Activision Blizzard has shared a breakdown of the diversity from across its four subsections for the first time in the company’s history.
The data was shared by Daniel Alegre, Activision Blizzard’s Chief Operating Officer, who paired it with a letter outlining goals, failures, and progress. The data itself contained a sector-by-sector breakdown of Activision, Blizzard, King, and AB Corporate’s demographics with both women and under-represented ethnic groups (or UEGs).
The data showed 24% of ABK’s employees were women; roughly the same average percentage of other companies in the game industry. Only 36% of its staff come from UEGs, however–4% lower than the industry average. To help facilitate the increase of these percentages to the levels promised by Activision Blizzard, Alegre also outlined a number of goals for 2022, including the hiring of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leaders, investing in training and recruitment programs to fosters inclusion, and unlocking upward mobility for UEGs and women via mentorship and sponsorship programs.
After the many pitfalls Activision Blizzard has fallen into this year, all eyes have been scrutinizing the company’s actions. Competitors, investors, and even state legislators have been chiding ABK’s poor responses to sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. To make matters worse, Activision Blizzard has begun anti-union activity against its employees in response to several strikes and demands.
This level of transparency is one of few good marks on Activision Blizzard’s otherwise spotty record as of late. Allegre seems well-aware this data is far from an excuse to pat himself on the back–the fact the industry standard of women in game development is only 24% is indicative of greater problems Activision Blizzard should be trying to set a standard on, rather than shooting for par. The company still has much work to do, but it may be able to restore some of the faith it lost with the ABK staff and fans if it continues to work with this level of transparency.
Words alone, however, will not be enough to save Activision Blizzard. After all, the promise for increased diversity back in October was made by CEO Bobby Kotick–recently revealed to have been complicit in the perpetuation of the culture that got Activision Blizzard in trouble in the first place. Unless real, lasting change happens in the company and industry as a whole, Activision Blizzard cannot afford to feed its constituents half measures.
Source: Activision, Activision - 2