ED NIGHTINGALE JULY 23, 2021
World of Warcraft. (Activision Blizzard / Polygon)
World of Warcraft players have been holding an in-game protest against Activision Blizzard.
The gaming publisher is being taken to court by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing for unfair treatment of women in its “frat boy culture”.
A two year investigation by the department has led to the lawsuit, which alleges that Activision Blizzard repeatedly discriminated against women employees and held them to a different standard, with abuse and harassment rife within the company.
To protest, hundreds of World of Warcraft players have gathered in the social hub of Oribos.
Organised by guild Fence Macabre that runs on the Wyrmrest Accord and Moon Guard servers, the group is additionally running a fundraiser for the charity Black Girls Code that’s dedicated to teaching young girls about coding and technology.
“Some people who have joined us are still undecided, debating leaving communities they’ve curated,” said deputy leader of Fence Macabre Hinahina Gray to Polygon.
“It’s never an easy decision to leave such a big emotional investment behind. Most of the people here have cancelled their sub. We wanted to do an in-game protest as it would allow people from all over to sit and join with us. Since we still have the game time, we might as well try to do something with it.”
She added: “In saying that, it is an emotional loss, a lot of people in our extended communities are struggling, especially people who are also marginalized who have been able to find others like themselves and cultivate a sense of belonging.
“As a queer indigenous person, I definitely feel it. While I have external real-life support systems and resources, finding those communities in a shared hobby is especially meaningful.”
Speaking further to PC Gamer, Gray mentions the poor use of indigenous stereotypes in World of Warcraft.
“Being Native Hawaiian, and having already seen how Blizzard handles writing Indigenous and other PoC coded storylines, I wish I could say my perception had been drastically changed, but this seems to be really getting to the heart of why they have failed to write these stories and concepts well,” she said.
“The way Blizzard codes “monstrous” races with stereotypical PoC traits as though cherrypicking from multiple real-world heritages to effectively establish them as the barbaric “other” in the game is also a problem.”
Further reactions to the Activision Blizzard lawsuit
Since news of the lawsuit broke, the social accounts of many Activision Blizzard games appear to have gone dark, with no new posts.
Further, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack sent an email to all staff about the “extremely troubling” allegations.
The email was obtained by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier.
Bungie, the developer behind Destiny, has also released a Twitter thread about Activision Blizzard – their former publisher.
“Bungie is built on empowering our people no matter who they are, where they are from, or how they identify,” it reads.
“While the accounts in this week’s news are difficult to read, we hope they will lead to justice, awareness, and accountability.”
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WoW players hosted a virtual sit-in to protest Activision Blizzard due to harassment lawsuit
They also raised thousands for Black Girls Code
Details of the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard by California's State Department of Fair Employment and Housing were made public on Wednesday night. The lawsuit includes numerous accounts of harassment and discrimination against women within the company. While plenty of players, fans, and former employees reacted to the report online, a guild of World Of Warcraft roleplayers organised a sit-in protest in game while raising now over $9,000 for Black Girls Code.
DFEH's lawsuit alleges that their investigation found women at the company "almost universally confirmed that working for Defendants was akin to working in a frat house, which invariably involved male employees drinking and subjecting female employees to sexual harassment with no repercussion."
As spotted by Polygon, a World Of Warcraft guild called "Fence Macabre" organised a sit-in event on Thursday night to protest Activision Blizzard in response to the allegations.
Participating players were "sub-locked", meaning they've pre-paid months of their subscription and still have remaining time available on their accounts. "Most of us have cancelled our subs, we're using the remaining game time to take up server space and raise awareness, and it's worked," one of the organisers told PC Gamer.
While sitting on the steps of hub area Oribos, Fence Macabre were also working to raise money for Black Girls Code, an organisation that works to "empower young women of color ages 7-17 to embrace the current tech marketplace". By the end of the sit-in, the group had raised over $8,000 (now more than $9,000), and plan to leave their fundraiser open until Monday, July 26th.
The guild posted a longer statement close to the end of the sit-in, in which they say:
"All of you, whether you’ve been with us since this morning or for only a portion, you have made a powerful statement with your presence. We hope this protest forces Blizzard to look in the mirror and see that those who inflicted harm—be it through direct action or by complacency—are held accountable.
"Above all: We sit in solidarity for the victims and survivors of Blizzard’s hostile work culture, be they those who were forced to leave, those who continue to endure the suffering as we speak, and most: those who are no longer with us."
Players are also voicing support for victims and calling for change on the World Of Warcraft subreddit, with support from members of other Activision Blizzard game subreddits.
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