Company behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft has been accused of a "frat boy" workplace cult

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Activision Blizzard was rocked with an explosive lawsuit filing last week when the state of California accused it of workplace discrimination against its female workforce. The suit, filed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, argues that the company has a "frat boy" workplace culture and alleges several alarming incidents of discrimination and harassment.

The suit didn't take long to make an impact. Many employees have spoken out in support of the claims, over 2,000 have signed an open letter calling for action by the company, and a walkout protest is planned for Wednesday. After initially rejecting many of the DFEH's allegations, Activision Blizzard has said it'll launch a full probe -- and its games will be changed to reflect values of diversity and inclusion.

Activision Blizzard is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world. It owns Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Crash Bandicoot and many more hugely popular franchises and last year recorded $2.2 billion in profit. Here's everything you need to know about this colossal lawsuit.

What is Activision Blizzard accused of?

The DFEH's suit accuses Activision Blizzard of workplace discrimination. It alleges women are compensated unfairly -- paid less for the same job, scrutinized more heavily than their male peers -- and subject to considerable harassment. The agency called Activision Blizzard a "breeding ground for harassment and discrimination," in which women are subject to regular sexual advances by (often high-ranking) men who largely go unpunished.

https://www.cnet.com/news/activision-blizzard-workplace-harassment-lawsuit-everything-you-need-to-know/

[Marrah_Goodman]

1. The gaming industry in general has this issue.

[lagomorph777]

2. All their games are testosterone-fueled murder sprees.

What a surprise their workplace is testosterone-fueled.

[CrackityJones75]

6. Yeah...

That crash bandicoot is a real bloodsport. And candycrush too!


How long before we start the video games make people violent subthread?

[meadowlander]

3. If this is their best defence, it's time to call the insurance company:

"In an email sent to staff, published by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, vice president of corporate affairs Frances Townsend said the site presented "a distorted and untrue picture of our company, including factually incorrect, old, and out of context stories -- some from more than a month ago."

[RANDYWILDMAN]

4. Shocked, shocked shocked, not really

testosterone fueled game makers create a male driven workplace

What the hell are the HR people at a 2 billion dollar business teaching the employee's ? are they showing the movie wolf of wall street and going try not to be like that ?

My legal advice, settle and change your culture

[Amishman]

5. Pretty common in the software development world

Places I've worked tended to be either politically incorrect HR nightmares, or sensitive to the degree it probably impacted team building and productivity - with little in-between.