The announcement that the State of California would initiate a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, accused of promoting a corporate culture of sexual harassment and misogyny, went off like a bomb. The reactions to this affair were numerous both inside and outside the American publisher. Management mentioned some of the internal reactions. And obviously, at least one of the teams didn’t like them.
Also read: Activision: Kotick’s salary on balance sheet, shareholder vote postponed
The player’s statement is the work of Jeff Hamilton, World of Warcraft Senior Systems Designer at Blizzard. The latter responded on his personal Twitter account to responses from the management of Activision Blizzard in the lawsuit filed last week by the California Department for Fair Employment and Housing.
In the latter, the experts at the American publisher angrily denied the allegations and denied the existence of major problems in the company. To believe Jeff Hamilton’s tweet, this reaction literally shocked the Activision Blizzard teams:
OK. I still hope my team will issue a press release, but since Activision’s statement was appalling, I think this is what I think. And I know that many of my colleagues also think this way:
I believe that all sexual harassment allegations must be taken seriously and dealt with in good faith, and that perpetrators of sexual harassment must both be fired from the company and investigated.
I firmly believe in fair treatment and protection. Regardless of gender or race, everyone has the right to an environment in which they can work and live safely and supportively.
Our society as a whole is often not fair, and people with less systemic power due to their marginalization need more systemic protection to ensure their fair treatment. It is clear that HR has failed in this role of system protection.
I am deeply saddened by the terrible trauma inflicted on my co-workers, friends and colleagues.
I find the Activision company’s reaction completely unacceptable. I do not sign it. Turning a victim’s story into rhetorical beating is evil, and it is disgusting to answer these allegations other than with a well-thought-out plan to correct the abuse.
I do not know what to do. I don’t have all the answers. I can tell you that work on World of Warcraft barely progresses until this darkness is over. And that is of no use to anyone, neither the players, nor the developers, nor the shareholders.
Activision’s response right now is to take a bunch of world-class developers and traumatize and anger them so much that they are unable to continue making great games.
I love my team deeply. I believe my colleagues. I have recommended this place as a beacon from people who are very important to me. And from my experience it was this lighthouse.
But it’s INCREDIBLY CLEAR that this hasn’t been everyone’s experience. The people who suffered this abuse also deserved such an experience. In the remainder of this statement, Jeff Hamilton lists the Twitter accounts of colleagues and colleagues at Blizzard who have been molested and / or suffered sexism within the American publisher and invites Internet users to hear their testimony.
@trulyaliem@christiegolden@shadesogrey@heliocentric@paigehix@sarahcotner@baemax@jhasu@christiegolden@so_bewitching
– Jeff Hamilton (@JeffAHamilton) July 25, 2021
At the time of writing, Activision Blizzard did not respond to this statement from the chief systems designer. One can now wonder whether such a public attitude might not damage his career in the short term. However, it appears that productivity at Activision Blizzard is being disrupted by this crisis. And if the situation persists, it could cause the group leadership to rethink.
What do you think of this statement from Jeff Hamilton? Do you think she will harm him? And what do you think of the reaction to the allegations made by Activision Blizzard management so far? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
