In a not so surprising move, J. Allen Brack “stepped down” (one of the sacrificial lambs) as president of Blizzard Entertainment, and will also be departing the company (to pursue other opportunities; aka given a choice to self-terminate himself rather than the more glaring headlines of Kotick fires Brack). Heads also rolled for the executive in charge of HR at Blizzard; Jesse Meschuk. A shareholder class action lawsuit was also filed against Activision Blizzard (complaint) seeking a jury trial.
The leadership change at Blizzard Entertainment is only a small start; there are a lot more people in positions of power at the company that need to go. Additionally, Kotick also needs to be removed as CEO of Activision Blizzard (that is part of a larger sea change that needs to happen across the video game industry where executives like him need to be held accountable for the abysmal state of affairs with rank and file employees who have had to deal with this industry wide abuse).
The issue with Blizzard Entertainment is much larger because like Disney, they presented themselves as this inclusive, community, and value focused company, but had covered up the abusive culture with a fake facade (aka brand management) with long time executives out of touch with what was going on (or being directly involved with fostering that type of atmosphere). Studios created by former Blizzard executives like Bonfire Studios (Rob Pardo) and Dreamhaven (Mike Morhaime) also need to be scrutinized (many former Blizzard personnel are now at both companies and have had enough time to cement the same type of culture). Before, this association was treated as a validation given the prior pristine reputation that was associated with the Blizzard brand. With that brand now tarnished along with the high probability that many of these same folks were complicit, the last thing is to allow these small companies to grow into larger ones that continue to provide “safe harbor” for those type of individuals (when what is needed is a major reckoning and fallout in order to begin the process of actually fixing the major problems in the industry).
UPDATE: Blizzard’s post to their community
Key thing that popped out at me: “rebuilding your trust”
Me: Good luck. Many of us have been warning the company (through various means including their community forums, on social media, and for those of us who were shareholders, via that route). The company long put up these “we hear you” responses and drivel about the community being important when the reality is many long timers felt the company was mostly invulnerable due to the amount of brand loyalty, goodwill, and trust that had been developed over the years (the whole “Blizzard can do no wrong” mentality).
This blog is a testament of a company who burned through that goodwill by the end of 2015 where I voted with my wallet and patronage in the two franchises that I had played the most; Diablo and StarCraft. I didn’t even bother completing the StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void campaign which had just been released (as a protoss player, it was something I’d been looking forward to for many years); I just felt a need to stop adding to their metrics by the time BlizzCon 2015 ended, and logged off for good part way through the campaign.
The last time I logged in was in 2017 on one of my alt accounts that had been selected for the Diablo III Necromancer beta. My main account (a collector editions trove) hasn’t been logged into since late 2015. Blizzard Entertainment is going to have to move mountains to win back the goodwill and trust of former customers/players like myself who saw the rot years ago (rot that has further hallowed out the company even more since).
UPDATE 2: Activision Blizzard CCO (Chief Compliance Officer) and VP of Corporate Affairs (aka executive gaslighter) Fran Townsend, has decided to cancel herself on social media by deleting her Twitter account after being called out for blocking the companies own employees (so much for “every voice matters”); this in response to a post she made that was critical regarding whistleblowers and also to her prior tonedeaf internal e-mail calling the lawsuit meritless and irresponsible. For an executive who is only 5 months into her position at Activision Blizzard (and is also far more clueless about Blizzard Entertainment), her own position is meritless and irresponsible. She needs to cancel herself out from Activision Blizzard and any further executive role when it comes to messaging at any other major corporation.
NOTE: regarding the shareholder class action lawsuit, I will be signing on to that once the paperwork is sent out to individuals who are/were shareholders/traders in the stock during the named period.
