California : For women at Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s most famous video game companies, showing up to work meant navigating near daily episodes of humiliation, sexual harassment, and even physical abuse, according to a bombshell lawsuit that has prompted a reckoning within the gaming industry.
The claims paint a disturbing picture of life for female employees: rampant sexual harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation, and a “frat boy” workplace culture where men objectified women’s bodies and openly joked about rape.
The lawsuit was brought by California’s department of fair employment and accuses the multi-billion dollar company – whose output includes Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush – of violating the state’s civil rights and equal pay laws.
The fallout has been swift and widespread. This week the company’s president and its head of human resources stepped down after hundreds of employees staged a walkout and thousands signed a petition demanding a response to the scandal.
And it’s far from over. Observers say the revelations could be a “watershed moment” for an industry that has long struggled with sexism and a chronic lack of diversity.
“What seems to be different now is the fact that people are recognizing these issues as being systemic and repeated rather than episodic,” said Amanda Cote, a professor at University of Oregon who studies sexism and gender identity in the video game industry. “People seem to be calling for change across the industry, rather than just at one company at a time.”
TGC
