Activision Blizzard has another government lawsuit on its plate, with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Eeoc) suing the Call of Duty, Overwatch and World of Warcraft publisher for workplace harassment and discrimination on Monday.
The suit, filed after a three-year investigation, alleges that Activision Blizzard’s female employees were subject “to sex-based discrimination, including harassment, based on their gender,” along with retaliation “for complaining about sex-based discrimination.” The file also alleges that female employees were paid less than their male-counterparts.
The Eeoc demands that Activision Blizzard “institute and carry out policies, practices, and programs to
ensure equal employment opportunities, and which eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices.” The demands also include compensating employees affected by the harassment and discrimination with back pay and damages.
Monday’s lawsuit comes just a couple months after the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleged that...
The suit, filed after a three-year investigation, alleges that Activision Blizzard’s female employees were subject “to sex-based discrimination, including harassment, based on their gender,” along with retaliation “for complaining about sex-based discrimination.” The file also alleges that female employees were paid less than their male-counterparts.
The Eeoc demands that Activision Blizzard “institute and carry out policies, practices, and programs to
ensure equal employment opportunities, and which eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices.” The demands also include compensating employees affected by the harassment and discrimination with back pay and damages.
Monday’s lawsuit comes just a couple months after the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleged that...
- 9/27/2021
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack has stepped down from his post, nearly two weeks after an investigation by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing exposed numerous allegations of harassment and a “frat boy” work place culture within Activision Blizzard.
The World of Warcraft and Overwatch publisher announced the executive reshuffling on Tuesday via a statement that also states that Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will co-lead upon Brack’s departure.
“Both leaders are deeply committed to all of our employees; to the work ahead to ensure Blizzard is the safest, most welcoming workplace possible for women, and people of any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or background; to upholding and reinforcing our values; and to rebuilding your trust,” the statement read.
A letter from Activision president and COO Daniel Alegre expanded on the Blizzard letter, detailing more information about Brack’s decision to step down.
“With Jen and Mike assuming their new roles,...
The World of Warcraft and Overwatch publisher announced the executive reshuffling on Tuesday via a statement that also states that Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will co-lead upon Brack’s departure.
“Both leaders are deeply committed to all of our employees; to the work ahead to ensure Blizzard is the safest, most welcoming workplace possible for women, and people of any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or background; to upholding and reinforcing our values; and to rebuilding your trust,” the statement read.
A letter from Activision president and COO Daniel Alegre expanded on the Blizzard letter, detailing more information about Brack’s decision to step down.
“With Jen and Mike assuming their new roles,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
In a brief statement released earlier today, Blizzard confirmed that J. Allen Brack will be stepping down as the “leader of the studio” and will be replaced by Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra who will serve as “co-leads” of Blizzard moving forward. There’s no word on what Brack will do next, but a separate statement published by Activision notes that Brack is “leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.”
What you won’t find in either statement (beyond vague references to “integrity and inclusivity” as well as Oneal and Ybarra’s reported commitment to “all” Blizzard employees) is a direct reference to California’s lawsuit against Blizzard over the company’s practices and policies, the controversy over certain Activision Blizzard executives’ responses to the state’s investigation, or the fact that players are staging protests against Activision Blizzard as part of their own responses to these stunning allegations.
So...
What you won’t find in either statement (beyond vague references to “integrity and inclusivity” as well as Oneal and Ybarra’s reported commitment to “all” Blizzard employees) is a direct reference to California’s lawsuit against Blizzard over the company’s practices and policies, the controversy over certain Activision Blizzard executives’ responses to the state’s investigation, or the fact that players are staging protests against Activision Blizzard as part of their own responses to these stunning allegations.
So...
- 8/3/2021
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
Video game giant Activision Blizzard announced that the president of its Blizzard Entertainment division, J. Allen Brack, would step down two weeks after the company was sued by the State of California over its toxic workplace culture, Variety reports.
Activision Blizard President and COO Daniel Alegre said in a statement that Brack would be “leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.” Brack was named in the lawsuit, which was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, as one of the company higher-ups who was allegedly aware of the harassment taking place.
Activision Blizard President and COO Daniel Alegre said in a statement that Brack would be “leaving the company to pursue new opportunities.” Brack was named in the lawsuit, which was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, as one of the company higher-ups who was allegedly aware of the harassment taking place.
- 8/3/2021
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
During the Gamescom opening ceremony, Blizzard revealed that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands will be released in October.
“World of Warcraft’s eighth expansion, Shadowlands has a launch date!” says Blizzard via a recent press release. “Dead or alive, all Horde and Alliance heroes will be journeying into the afterlife when Shadowlands launches globally on October 27th.”
As previously revealed, Shadowlands will focus on what is essentially World of Warcraft‘s afterlife. There, players will need to choose between the Shadowlands’ ruling factions (known as Covenants) who will each offer unique abilities, benefits, and narrative paths.
“In Shadowlands, players will explore one of the Warcraft universe’s most mysterious undiscovered frontiers,” says J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “And in selecting a Covenant to align themselves with, they’ll face one of the most challenging decisions they’ve ever made in the game—one that will impact nearly every aspect...
“World of Warcraft’s eighth expansion, Shadowlands has a launch date!” says Blizzard via a recent press release. “Dead or alive, all Horde and Alliance heroes will be journeying into the afterlife when Shadowlands launches globally on October 27th.”
As previously revealed, Shadowlands will focus on what is essentially World of Warcraft‘s afterlife. There, players will need to choose between the Shadowlands’ ruling factions (known as Covenants) who will each offer unique abilities, benefits, and narrative paths.
“In Shadowlands, players will explore one of the Warcraft universe’s most mysterious undiscovered frontiers,” says J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “And in selecting a Covenant to align themselves with, they’ll face one of the most challenging decisions they’ve ever made in the game—one that will impact nearly every aspect...
- 8/27/2020
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
During a recent earnings call (as reported on by GamesIndustry.biz), Blizzard president J. Allen Brack noted that the studio plans on hosting a digital version of BlizzCon sometime in early 2021.
“We’re really fortunate to have a passionate and engaged community that’s really looking forward to what we’re creating,” said Brack regarding the upcoming event. “We’re looking forward to sharing what the teams have been working on for that event.”
As we previously reported, Blizzard made the decision to cancel its BlizzCon 2020 celebration due to health concerns related to the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, it would seem that this upcoming 2021 BlizzCon digital event is meant to be a kind of replacement for this year’s canceled show.
However, it’s not entirely clear if that’s really the case. Brack noted that this event is meant to “the spirit of BlizzCon,” which tends to suggest that...
“We’re really fortunate to have a passionate and engaged community that’s really looking forward to what we’re creating,” said Brack regarding the upcoming event. “We’re looking forward to sharing what the teams have been working on for that event.”
As we previously reported, Blizzard made the decision to cancel its BlizzCon 2020 celebration due to health concerns related to the Covid-19 pandemic. As such, it would seem that this upcoming 2021 BlizzCon digital event is meant to be a kind of replacement for this year’s canceled show.
However, it’s not entirely clear if that’s really the case. Brack noted that this event is meant to “the spirit of BlizzCon,” which tends to suggest that...
- 8/5/2020
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
Activision has confirmed that they intend to release a new Call of Duty game this year despite complications caused by the spread of Covid-19.
“Although the shift to remote working does add complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process, including creative collaboration, motion capture, voiceover work, localization, and quality assurance, we are implementing mitigation measures to address each of these areas,” said Activision COO Daniel Alegre during a recent earnings call. “Importantly, based on the work to date, we still expect to deliver a robust slate of content over the remainder of the year. This includes the next premium release of Call of Duty, two titles based on library IP from Activision, the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion, regional testing for new mobile titles, and ongoing live operations across our key franchises.”
Blizzard president J. Allen Brack later expanded on that statement by suggesting that World...
“Although the shift to remote working does add complexity and challenges in some areas of the game development process, including creative collaboration, motion capture, voiceover work, localization, and quality assurance, we are implementing mitigation measures to address each of these areas,” said Activision COO Daniel Alegre during a recent earnings call. “Importantly, based on the work to date, we still expect to deliver a robust slate of content over the remainder of the year. This includes the next premium release of Call of Duty, two titles based on library IP from Activision, the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion, regional testing for new mobile titles, and ongoing live operations across our key franchises.”
Blizzard president J. Allen Brack later expanded on that statement by suggesting that World...
- 5/6/2020
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
Matthew Byrd Feb 7, 2020
World of Warcraft is surging in popularity, but what does the future of the game hold?
During a recent earnings call, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack revealed that World of Warcraft's subscriber count has doubled since the release of WoW Classic.
"Given the content updates for modern WoW, and the cadence that we have for Classic, we exited our year with a subscriber base that was double what it was at the end of Q2," says Brack. "And we also see players remaining engaged in both versions of the game. We launched Visions of N'zoth, which is a content patch for modern WoW, in January. Engagement with Classic has been particularly strong in the East, and we see very high levels of player retention there."
Brack also vaguely touched upon how Blizzard intends to continue to support World of Warcraft Classic moving forward.
"When we designed...
World of Warcraft is surging in popularity, but what does the future of the game hold?
During a recent earnings call, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack revealed that World of Warcraft's subscriber count has doubled since the release of WoW Classic.
"Given the content updates for modern WoW, and the cadence that we have for Classic, we exited our year with a subscriber base that was double what it was at the end of Q2," says Brack. "And we also see players remaining engaged in both versions of the game. We launched Visions of N'zoth, which is a content patch for modern WoW, in January. Engagement with Classic has been particularly strong in the East, and we see very high levels of player retention there."
Brack also vaguely touched upon how Blizzard intends to continue to support World of Warcraft Classic moving forward.
"When we designed...
- 2/7/2020
- Den of Geek
Matthew Byrd Feb 13, 2019
Activision Blizzard will let go of hundreds of employees as part of a change in company focus.
Activision Blizzard has begun laying off a large number of employees. Early reports indicate that a large number of these layoffs will affect non-development employees at Blizzard. Specifically, it will target a large number of employees in the studio's eSports and publishing divisions.
“Over the last few years, many of our non-development teams expanded to support various needs,” Blizzard president J. Allen Brack said in a statement acquired by Kotaku. "Currently staffing levels on some teams are out of proportion with our current release slate. This means we need to scale down some areas of our organization. I’m sorry to share that we will be parting ways with some of our colleagues in the U.S. today. In our regional offices, we anticipate similar evaluations, subject to local requirements.
Activision Blizzard will let go of hundreds of employees as part of a change in company focus.
Activision Blizzard has begun laying off a large number of employees. Early reports indicate that a large number of these layoffs will affect non-development employees at Blizzard. Specifically, it will target a large number of employees in the studio's eSports and publishing divisions.
“Over the last few years, many of our non-development teams expanded to support various needs,” Blizzard president J. Allen Brack said in a statement acquired by Kotaku. "Currently staffing levels on some teams are out of proportion with our current release slate. This means we need to scale down some areas of our organization. I’m sorry to share that we will be parting ways with some of our colleagues in the U.S. today. In our regional offices, we anticipate similar evaluations, subject to local requirements.
- 2/11/2019
- Den of Geek
During the opening presentation at this year's BlizzCon, the company announced an upgraded and remastered version of Warcraft III will arrive in 2019 for gamers to enjoy. Come inside to check out the first trailers!
It's almost insane to think that Warcraft III originally launched in 2002, more than 15 years ago! It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but perhaps that's because of all the World of Warcraft we've had in it's place. For those of us who aren't as big into MMOs, however, we're getting a chance to see the franchise return to its roots next year with Warcraft III Reforged.
More than just a simple HD remaster, Blizzard stated that Warcraft III Reforged will feature completely remodeled characters and environments. More than that, they're also tweaking the balancing, systems, and matchmaking to bring everything up to par with what modern Rts gamers are used to. In short, aside from...
It's almost insane to think that Warcraft III originally launched in 2002, more than 15 years ago! It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but perhaps that's because of all the World of Warcraft we've had in it's place. For those of us who aren't as big into MMOs, however, we're getting a chance to see the franchise return to its roots next year with Warcraft III Reforged.
More than just a simple HD remaster, Blizzard stated that Warcraft III Reforged will feature completely remodeled characters and environments. More than that, they're also tweaking the balancing, systems, and matchmaking to bring everything up to par with what modern Rts gamers are used to. In short, aside from...
- 11/2/2018
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Jordan Maison)
- Cinelinx
A huge post has appeared on World Of Warcraft‘s official forums written by the game’s executive producer J. Allen Brack, that addresses the apparent fan demand for some form of legacy server as well as the recent closure of Nostalrius – an unofficial server not run or owned by Blizzard.
It was reported earlier this month that the owners of the private server were handed a cease and desist order from Blizzard’s legal representatives that forced it to close, displacing a reported 800,000 players who had registered an account since it opened.
Brack says in the forum post that Blizzard pursued the closure of Nostalrius in an effort to protect the company’s intellectual property, rather than a direct attempt to block players from enjoying an alternative version of the official game.
[F]ailure to protect against intellectual property infringement would damage Blizzard’s rights. This applies to anything that uses WoW’s IP,...
It was reported earlier this month that the owners of the private server were handed a cease and desist order from Blizzard’s legal representatives that forced it to close, displacing a reported 800,000 players who had registered an account since it opened.
Brack says in the forum post that Blizzard pursued the closure of Nostalrius in an effort to protect the company’s intellectual property, rather than a direct attempt to block players from enjoying an alternative version of the official game.
[F]ailure to protect against intellectual property infringement would damage Blizzard’s rights. This applies to anything that uses WoW’s IP,...
- 4/27/2016
- by Joe Pring
- We Got This Covered
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