Blizzard Harasser From Lawsuit Is Still All Over World of Warcraft, Fans Dismay
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Field Marshal Afrasiabi is one of multiple NPCs named for Alex Afrasiabi who is mentioned in the Activision Blizzard lawsuit. (Screenshot: Blizzard / Kotaku)
Content warning: descriptions of sexual harassment
The suit alleges that the company has a toxic workplace culture that enables and protects abusers. In response, Activision Blizzard issued a statement denying the claims saying the state of California included “distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past.”
But how just long ago was this “past”?
As the horrific allegations against Activision Blizzard came to light, one portion of the lawsuit stood out as particularly egregious. According to the complaint, Alex Afrasiabi, a creative director on
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California s Department of Fair Employment and Housing on Thursday sued Activision Blizzard and its subsidiaries, alleging the company fostered a frat boy culture that led to lower pay for female employees, sex and race discrimination, and sexual harassment.
According to the lawsuit, as an example of the effects of this toxic culture, a female worker killed herself on a company trip due to a sexual relationship she had with her male boss.
“All employers should ensure that their employees are being paid equally and take all steps to prevent discrimination, harassment, and retaliation,” said dept director Kevin Kish in a statement [PDF]. “This is especially important for employers in male-dominated industries, such as technology and gaming.”
Updated: 8:59 PM EDT July 22, 2021
Gaming company Activision Blizzard is being sued by a California state agency over alleged sexual harassment, sex discrimination and equal pay violations. The lawsuit includes accusations that women who reported sexual harassment were retaliated against by company brass.
The civil lawsuit was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which claimed in a statement that women in the company were subjected to constant sexual harassment, including groping, comments, and advances. DFEH also alleged that company executives and human resources knew about this and not only didn t stop it, but retaliated against the women who complained.
Senior voices [warned] about the impending disaster of Warcraft.but were ignored. Updated on 23 July 2021
January 2020 saw the arrival of Blizzard s highly anticipated Warcraft 3 remake, Reforged, but the celebratory mood quickly soured once fans realised the game failed to deliver much of what was initially promised and took away even more. Now, a report from Bloomberg has shed new light on the behind-the-scenes decision-making that lead to such a disastrous outing for one of Blizzard s most beloved games.
When Reforged was originally announced at BlizzCon 2018, Blizzard sold it as a significant overhaul of its classic real-time strategy game. However, the final version was plagued by bugs, brought broken online play, and was absent of expected features promised in its initial reveal, including improved cutscenes and re-recorded voice overs. It even stripped out elements from the original Warcraft 3, such as leaderboards and clans.
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