Activision Blizzard Situation Thread

[Maniakkid25]

I always saw him as a reporter rather than a presenter, and since the early 2010s he's had an unhealthy relationship with sponsorships, in that he's been affiliated a little too closely with them. But, I guess that's just me. I still see him as everything wrong with gaming journalism, since he seems to represent those problems so well (willingness to snivel and grovel to company's every word, present every good facet while politely ignoring their bad facets, distract with shiny previews while companies do shitty things). Really, the only thing I can think of that he's actually done with some sense of integrity is the time where he revealed Kojima was barred by Konami from attending the Game Awards; otherwise, the entire show is just an advertising platform for the video game industry.

[Moonface]

I figured this could go in here since Activision isn't the only company doing dodgy things they need to be slapped hard in the head for doing. So Riot Games has agreed to pay $100 million in class-action lawsuit settlement, which was originally filed back in 2018. The company will pay $80 million to members of the class-action suit, comprising of California state agencies and current and former women employees, and approximately $20 million toward plaintiffs’ legal fees.

This is a great day for the women of Riot Games — and for women at all video game and tech companies — who deserve a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination. We appreciate Riot’s introspection and work since 2018 toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive company.

Riot tried to settle the lawsuit in 2019 with an offer of $10 million, but was denied by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, arguing that victims were entitled to as much as $400 million. The company also isn't out of the woods yet, as they will be monitored for three years:

As part of the settlement, Riot Games must be monitored by a third party for three years. That party will oversee human resource complaints, how they are handled and whether employees of all genders are being paid fairly. The third party, which could be an individual, must be approved by both the company and the DFEH. If the monitor discovers Riot Games needs to improve its practices, they can recommend changes to implement, which the judge presiding over the suit, Elihu M. Berle, may enforce.

I don't know how much of an impact, if any, $100 million has on Riot, but at least most of it is going towards the victims (2300 I believe are receiving money) and the third party monitoring for the next three years will hopefully make sure they don't just try to do a better job of covering their tracks and instead just stop making them.

[Moonface]

I hadn't heard about this developer until now, but Raven Software is still on strike due to not receiving any responses from Activision. The tl;dr of their situation is that 12 QA members were let go without any input from Raven Software, after those members were asked to relocate to Wisconsin where the studio is based prior to being laid off. Raven Software went on strike in response, and demanded that "all members of the Raven QA department must be offered full time positions, including those who were let go."

I don't know if the positions were advertised as temporary from the outset, but if they were then anyone in those positions should not have had to relocate because it's stupid to make people move somewhere only to let them go after they arrive.

[Moonface]

I'm a little surprised this one came about now only because I feel like it's been a while since this entire situation first kicked off, but the more people who speak up the better no matter how late it might be. Shame Kotick is still basically going to have a get out of jail card no matter how many of these lawsuits get filled though.

[Mr EliteL]

Yay, more! Nah it's good they're coming out with them, but yeah annoying Kotick's very likely to get away scot-free.

[ShiraNoMai]

I say keep'em coming. Keep this shit in the light. Further sully the name. At some point it'll do something.

..right?

[Moonface]

Well, time for some good news perhaps to offset all the awful stories that populate this subject:

I'm conflicted on this. On the one hand, it's good that this company is aiming to be more diverse and inclusive. However, on the flip side I worry how much of this is just token gesturing, since hiring the people your company has caused problems with doesn't resolve the occurrences of those problems. But I guess none of these people would apply for a job with Activision right now in the first place, so if Activision wants to hit this goal in the next five years they will actually need to make the job appealing, and I can't see that happening until Kotick is out because I can't imagine a company looks very appealing to work at with that pile of shit still at the helm no matter what else gets accomplished.