Former Blizzard President: "Everything I stood for turned out to be erased"
Michael Morheim, former president of Blizzard Entertainment and one of the co-founders of the company, wrote a post on Twitlonger in which he sympathized with all employees of the gaming corporation. He also speculated on the discrimination lawsuit.
Michael Morheim has the feeling that everything he worked on all the time has been erased and this causes him great sadness and a sense of shame:
I have read the entire lawsuit against Activision Blizzard and many other stories. It's hard and very disturbing. I am ashamed. It feels like everything I have advocated has been erased. But even worse, real people have suffered, and some women have gone through terrible things.
Morheim, as a leader, knows that humiliation does exist in the gaming industry, and the leadership should be engaged in the fight against this phenomenon:
Harassment and discrimination exist. They are very common in our industry. And managers have a responsibility to ensure that their employees feel safe, supported and treated equally, regardless of gender and background.
Former President of Blizzard Entertainment has pledged to continue to fight the above phenomena facing the entertainment industry:
As one of the leading figures in the industry, I can and will use my influence to bring about positive change and fight misogyny, discrimination and harassment.
Morheim also noted the impressive period during which he was engaged in the formation of the company:
I was at Blizzard for 28 years. During that time, I tried very hard to create an environment that was safe and welcoming for people of all genders and backgrounds. I knew that it was not perfect, but clearly we were far from that goal. The fact that so many women were mistreated and were not supported means we let them down. In addition, we did not succeed in making it feel safe for people to tell their truth. It is no consolation that other companies have faced similar challenges. I wanted us to be different, better.
Michael Morheim founded Blizzard Entertainment with Allen Adam and Frank Pearce in 1991. Until October 2018, he held the main management position. From October 2018 to April 2019, he moved to the post of strategic advisor, transferring his powers to another person, Jay Allen Brack, after which he left the company he founded.
The incumbent president of Blizzard Entertainment wrote a letter to employees informing them that the team environment was extremely unsettling. This is due to the lawsuit against the company, in which it is accused of discriminating against women. This became known on July 22. Jason Schreier, Bloomberg's renowned gaming insider digger, published the text of a letter from Jay Allen Brack.
Activision Blizzard has denied all accusations about the flourishing of misogyny in collectives and harassment of women.
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