Ex Blizzard Boss Mike Morhaime Responds To Activision Lawsuit

Blizzard co-founder and longtime boss Mike Morhaime took to Twitter simply after midnight Friday to touch upon the widespread allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination on the sport firm he led for therefore lengthy. “To the Blizzard ladies who skilled any of these items, I’m extraordinarily sorry that I failed you,” he wrote. “I hear you, I consider you, and I’m so sorry to have allow you to down.”

Morhaime helped discovered the World of Warcraft and Diablo developer proper out of school in 1991. Since then, it’s gone on to turn into some of the distinguished studios on the earth, producing hits in each style like StarCraft, Hearthstone, and Overwatch. For a lot of that historical past, Morhaime was its chief, and his departure in 2018 to go on and type the brand new sport firm known as Dreamhaven was broadly considered a serious blow to Blizzard’s longstanding legacy.

However in accordance with a criticism filed in California courtroom earlier this week by the Division of Truthful Employment and Housing following a two-year investigation, a “frat boy” office tradition was rife on the firm throughout Morhaime’s time as CEO there.

Right here is Morhaime’s assertion in full:

I’ve learn the total criticism in opposition to Activision Blizzard and most of the different tales. It’s all very disturbing and troublesome to learn. I’m ashamed. It looks like the whole lot I assumed I stood for has been washed away. What’s worse however much more vital, actual folks have been harmed, and a few ladies had horrible experiences.

I used to be at Blizzard for 28 years. Throughout that point, I attempted very arduous to create an setting that was secure and welcoming for folks of all genders and backgrounds. I knew that it was not excellent, however clearly we have been removed from that objective. The truth that so many ladies have been mistreated and weren’t supported means we allow them to down. As well as, we didn’t reach making it really feel secure for folks to inform their fact. It’s no comfort that different corporations have confronted related challenges. I needed us to be totally different, higher.

Harassment and discrimination exist. They’re prevalent in our {industry}. It’s the duty of management to maintain all workers feeling secure, supported, and handled equitably, no matter gender and background. It’s the duty of management to stamp out toxicity and harassment in any type, throughout all ranges of the corporate. To the Blizzard ladies who skilled any of these items, I’m extraordinarily sorry that I failed you.

I notice that these are simply phrases, however I needed to acknowledge the ladies who had terrible experiences. I hear you, I consider you, and I’m so sorry to have allow you to down. I wish to hear your tales, in case you are prepared to share them. As a pacesetter in our {industry}, I can and can use my affect to assist drive optimistic change and to fight misogyny, discrimination, and harassment wherever I can. I consider we will do higher, and I consider the gaming {industry} generally is a place the place ladies and minorities are welcomed, included, supported, acknowledged, rewarded, and in the end unimpeded from the chance to make the sorts of contributions that each one of us be a part of this {industry} to make. I would like the mark I depart on this {industry} to be one thing that we will all be pleased with.

Since information of the allegations broke on July 21, former Blizzard builders have been talking out on social media concerning the harassment and abuse they skilled or witnessed. Present builders have been distancing themselves from the corporate’s public and inner statements and calling on it to make modifications.

Activision Blizzard’s response up to now has been to problem the accuracy of the accusations by implying that they solely mirror issues from the previous. “The DFEH consists of distorted, and in lots of circumstances false, descriptions of Blizzard’s previous,” a spokesperson for the corporate informed Kotaku. “The image the DFEH paints will not be the Blizzard office of right now.”

Activision Blizzard didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

In the meantime, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack despatched an e-mail to workers earlier this week calling the allegations “extraordinarily troubling.” On this message, he failed to say that he was personally named within the go well with as somebody who didn’t cease one other developer from serially sexually harassing feminine coworkers. That developer, Alex Afrasiabi, contributed World of Warcraft as not too long ago as 2020, and lots of NPCs and gadgets within the sport nonetheless reference him. A video recording of each Brack and Afrasiabi making sexist and condescending remarks a few feminine fan’s query at a 2010 BlizzCon panel has also been making the rounds online, following a seemingly industry-wide reevaluation of Blizzard’s historical past.

Name of Obligation maker Activision acquired Blizzard in 2008, and following the merger shaped a brand new mother or father firm known as Activision Blizzard. Whereas each subsidiaries have largely functioned individually, Activision’s function in Blizzard’s day-to-day enterprise reportedly grew following Morhaime’s departure in 2018.

Final yr, Blizzard launched a remaster of WarCraft 3 known as WarCraft 3: Reforged that was so unpopular the corporate nearly instantly began providing refunds for it. In keeping with a recentreport by Bloomberg, elevated monetary stress from Activision is partly accountable for current uncharacteristic flops like this. A few of the new modifications have reportedly included conferences all of the sudden being attended by finance folks who wouldn’t usually been there previous to the corporate’s cultural shift. A number of longtime Blizzard builders, together with former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan, have begun exiting the corporate lately.

Dreamhaven, Morhaime’s newest enterprise, has a mission assertion begins by stating goals to spotlight a greater variety of voices and “present a secure area the place builders, creators, and gamers can join in significant methods.”