Activision Blizzard staff will hold a strike to show their collective frustration with the company’s response to the lawsuit highlighting bullying, sexual harassment and more within the workplace.
As originally reported by Bloomberg, the decision to strike has been building since the lawsuit was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing on July 22. It’s alleged that Activision was guilty of harbouring a “frat boy workplace culture”.
Activision Blizzard employees are demanding that the company eliminates a number of mandatory clauses that are found in all staff contracts (both current and future). This includes that new practices are brought in regarding recruiting, interviewing, hiring and promotion to help with diversity. The publication of data on relative compensation, promotion rates and salary ranges for “all genders and ethnicities” at the firm is also included.
On top of this, staff want to bring in a third party to audit Activision’s upper management (including its hierarchy) and HR department.
Numerous figures from the games industry have come out in support of the move, including God of War creative director Cory Barlog.
fully support all my dev friends at Activision Blizzard as they stand up against this reprehensibly shit treatment.
our industry needs to be better. ✊❤️ https://t.co/6oeho8uGie
— cory balrog ???? (@corybarlog) July 27, 2021
“Activision Blizzard employees will strike tomorrow outside Blizzard’s campus to protest the company’s responses to the discrimination lawsuit and to demand more equitable treatment for staff,” wrote Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier (via Twitter).
He added that “collective action in the North American video game industry is rare because there are no unions. A representative for the Activision Blizzard employee group organising the strike tells Bloomberg they have not discussed unionising”.
The strike is expected to take place between 10am to 2pm PT (6pm to 10pm UK time) on July 28, with staff exiting the building to protest at the main gate on Blizzard campus.
Those unable to attend in person will hold a virtual walkout simultaneously between 9am to 6pm PT (5pm on July 28 to 2am on July 29 UK time). All staff are encouraged to share the hashtag #ActiBlizzWalkout via social media.
Earlier today, it was revealed that current and former Activision Blizzard staff signed an open letter criticising the company for its response to the ongoing discrimination lawsuit.
This number has grown throughout the day (via Axios) and was last reported to equal more than 2,600 employees, representing over 25 per cent of the company’s total workforce.
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