Activision Blizzard reports 29 incidents of harassment following CEO’s denial of a ‘systemic issue’

More than four times as many as 2021.

two large, blue stage curtains with activision blizzard written across them
Photo via Activision Blizzard

As soon as two more Overwatch 2 heroes were announced as queer on May 30, people began wondering what developer Activision Blizzard was preparing to cover up. On May 31, CEO Bobby Kotick said the company “did not have a systemic issue with harassment.” On June 1, a report revealed 29 incidents of harassment in 2022.

Recommended Videos

The transparency report is part of Activision Blizzard’s bid to win back the faith of shareholders after numerous lawsuits were brought against it alleging, among other things, a “frat boy culture” and rampant harassment towards women. It revealed that out of 114 investigated employee reports of discrimination, retaliation, or harassment, 29 were substantiated. This is an increase of over four times the seven substantiated reports in 2021.

Activision Blizzard Corporate had one substantiated report, Activision Publishing had 15, Blizzard Entertainment had 13, and mobile developer King had zero.

Diablo 4's Lilith looks on menacingly in a game teaser.
Just an image of a demon, nothing to infer here. Image via Blizzard Entertainment

The report states that corrective action for those found to have harassed employees will be meted out “regardless of an employee’s level, status, or role,” yet Kotick remains CEO despite leaving his assistant a voicemail in 2006 where he threatened to have her killed. A message an Activision spokesperson called “hyperbolic.”

15 percent of those found to have harassed, discriminated, or retaliated against employees were given verbal feedback or coaching, and 36 percent were fired. The reasons for firing included four cases of physical assault, four cases of unwanted advances, two cases of non-consensual touching, and one case of retaliation.

This report follows a Variety puff piece where Kotick claimed news of harassment and cultural issues were “mischaracterizations reported in the media.” He also managed to get a jab in at workers trying to unionize, saying, “What we did have was a very aggressive labor movement working hard to try and destabilize the company.”

Author
Image of Issy van der Velde
Issy van der Velde
Issy loves his video games and his guinea pigs. He's been writing about games for a few years now, but esports is new to him, so please be nice and treat him like the fragile little baby he is.