Activision Blizzard Employees to Stage Walkout In Protest at Leadership

By Kevin Colleran On Jul 28, 2021

Activision Blizzard employees have announced that they intend to stage a walkout on Wednesday, July 28. The walkout comes in protest at the response from company leadership to a lawsuit highlighting harassment, inequality, and more within the company.

Announced in a statement of intent, employees explain that internal and external responses from Activision Blizzard after the announcement of the lawsuit have led them to “believe that our values as employees are not being accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership.”

The walkout calls on the company’s leadership to work with employees on a list of demands to “improve conditions for employees at the company, especially women, and in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.” You can read the list of demands in full below.

Taking place from 10am-2pm Pacific, an in-person walkout will congregate at the Blizzard campus main gate. A virtual walkout will take place on the same day from 9am-6pm Pacific, with employees unable to attend in-person invited to stop work and share the hashtag #ActiBlizzWalkout on social media.

Activision Blizzard Walkout – Employee Demands

1. An end to mandatory arbitration clauses in all employee contracts, current and future. Arbitration clauses protect abusers and limit the ability of victims to seek restitution.

2. The adoption of recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and promotion policies designed to improve representation among employees at all levels, agreed upon by employees in a company-wide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion organization. Current practices have led to women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups that are vulnerable to gender discrimination not being hired fairly for new roles when compared to men.

3. Publication of data on relative compensation (including equity grants and profit sharing), promotion rates, and salary ranges for employees of all genders and ethnicities at the company. Current practices have led to aforementioned groups not being paid or promoted fairly.

4. Empower a company-wide Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion task force to hire a third party to audit ABK’s reporting structure, HR department, and executive staff. It is imperative to identify how current systems have failed to prevent employee harassment, and to propose new solutions to address these issues.

Last week, the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment filed a lawsuit, which accuses Activision Blizzard of fostering a culture in which women and other marginalized groups are routinely paid and promoted less, as well as allowing for repeated cases of sexual harassment.

The walkout follows an open letter signed by hundreds of Activision Blizzard employees, calling internal responses to the recent lawsuit, “abhorrent and insulting.” Ex-Blizzard executives Mike Morhaime and Chris Metzen have written to apologise for “failing” employees at the company during their time there. As of this morning, the letter has surpassed 2600 signatures, but Activision Blizzard’s leadership has reportedly not yet responded to its content.

The walkout organizers have also thanked the wider video gaming community, calling on supporters to tweet the #ActiBlizzWalkout, and use a blue heart emoji. They also provided a list of charities to consider donating to:

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