Call of Duty and World of Warcraft developers recently received a complaint from California regarding widespread issues over these past few years including sexual harassment and gender-based pay discrimination. Later on, management has still not recognized employees’ demands a week after they formed a working group to raise improved working conditions, now fans are trying to figure out a possible way to support developers in their ongoing problems.
On July 18th, Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout to demand more diverse hiring and pay transparency, at the same time for fans to show solidarity by giving various charities, players, and content creators across different games were pushing additional messages “Do not step over the virtual picket line” according to one widely shared screenshot. Calling out players not to log into any Blizzard games for the length of the walkout, which a number of popular streamers, like Hearthstone David Caero AKA “Dogdog” agreed to.
A popular Warzone content creator and Twitch streamer, Third wrote that the men streaming WoW and ignoring walkout are not allies and added to remember them and where they chose to stand in critical situations.
Most of those who are in social media acknowledged players to quit playing the company’s game. Some are in favor and saw it as a symbolic way to force Activision Blizzard to pay attention. Others are worried that a long-term boycott could possibly lead to closure of some online games, perhaps in affecting employees who needed it the most.
The argument continued this week in Activision Blizzard’s last earning calls. Despite making a fuss in a much more apologetic and forgiving tone during the meeting, the business was not able to react to demands for employee-led audit or the removal of WilmerHale, a third-party investigator and sometimes union-busting legal firm.
It is unclear whether any of the company’s developers, even the women who have been abused by it, support it. Though some have revived demands for the mentioned boycott of all Activision Blizzard items. Kotaku spoke with a number of current and former Activision Blizzard developers to get their opinions on how fans may best influence the company’s direction. Some people did not react. Others didn’t want their views to detract from the current demands of the ABK Workers Alliance.
A spokesperson for the group Kotaku said that they are extremely glad to see their community doing its best to support their cause and added that it will need all of their voices to assure that genuine change occurs and that they are also encouraging their community to voice out and continue to advocate the abuse in gaming. He also said the women and other excluded genders are very much welcome in their community and workplaces.
Some fans and streamers moved to using social media and in-game to raise awareness of the continuous labor dispute. DragonsAfterDark, a World of Warcraft content creator, was one of a few people who streamed Activision Blizzard’s earnings call on Twitch under the Warcraft category
They told Kotaku over an email that his personal decision is to stay subscribed and at the same time he also believes boycotting is an even response and the attention of the leadership and shareholders will be drawn to a combination of both sides working together.
They brought up concerns raised during the investor call regarding the potential drops in monthly users and well-known influencers leaving the community were used as a proof that players have grabbed the Activision Blizzard’s interest.
From his own perspective, the answer is to stay still and just encourage people while keeping the pressure on and improving such things. They said that they can’t expect things to improve if everyone throws their hands in the air.
Regardless of their strategy discussion, most of the Activision Blizzard gamers are faced with a more basic and simple question: do they still want to continue spending their time in gaming worlds that have been toxic by the company’s alleged history of maltreatment and abuse?
During a phone interview with Kotaku, Xantia, a professional World of Warcraft player and the fan from a well-known 2010 BlizzCon panel, stated that it is hard to keep playing with a pure conscience. He added that he is divided between two worlds. On the one hand, there are still women working for Blizzard and contributing to the World of Warcraft team, doing work that they are proud of. However, to what degree can they support a corporation that has pushed this sort of behavior under the rug to the point where it has taken a lawsuit from the state of California to bring it to light, and where it is doubtful that the company will truly make significant changes?”
Xantia, like many other players, has taken a step back from the game and is reconsidering her future relationship with it. It’s a difficult problem with no quick answers, just as the ABK Workers Alliance’s fight to change Activision Blizzard’s work culture.
Despite this, she stated that there are strong, inclusive World of Warcraft communities and women-led guilds, would they turn a blind eye to anything like that? Is it true that if they leave the room, the dudebros, the ones who made things poisonous for women in the first place win?