It has just been made public that the President of Blizzard is now leaving Activision Blizzard. With Mike Ybarra, former Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, and Jen Oneal, previously head of Vicarious Visions, set to take over as "co-leaders."
Unfortunately, harassment allegations in the gaming industry are appallingly common. Much like the multiple accusations against Ubisoft back in 2020, Activision Blizzard now finds itself in a lawsuit for assaulting, sexually harassing, and psychologically traumatizing its female employees. This is while people in positions of power at the companies involved seemingly did little to stop or prevent this behavior.
Speaking of which, J. Allen Brack is now stepping down from being the President of Blizzard to “pursue new opportunities,” after being labelled in the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the State of California. For those who do not know, Brack joined the World of Warcraft company in January 2006 and held multiple leadership roles prior to being promoted to the head in October 2018.
Furthermore, J. Allen Brack previously received mass amounts of criticism for allegedly doing little to limit the problematic actions of Alex Afrasiabi, the former Senior Creative Director at Blizzard Entertainment. Afrasiabi's sexual misconduct dates back to at least 2013, and it was recently claimed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) that the Senior Creative "was permitted to engage in blatant sexual harassment," towards female employees and received "little to no repercussions" from higher-ups over his actions.
J. Allen Brack's departure was initially broken to employees of Blizzard Entertainment in a letter written by the Chief Operating Officer at Activision, Daniel Alegre. The letter states that Alegre is "pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra have been appointed co-leaders of Blizzard." An update on Blizzard.com expresses that the two “are deeply committed to all of our employees; to the work ahead to ensure Blizzard is the safest, most welcoming workplace possible for women.” Although this message is a pleasant one, actions speak much louder than words, so only time will tell how much Blizzard will change for the better.
The Activision Blizzard lawsuit is an ongoing situation so more events are expected to break out in the near future. However, while the fallout continues to unfold, every gamer should try their best to support the courageous individuals who have come forward to share their experiences.
Source: DFEH vs Activision Blizzard lawsuit, COO Daniel Alegre's Letter, Alex Afrasiabi's Misconduct / Gamesindustry.biz