One of the developers reported that work on World of Warcraft has been stopped.
Jeff Hamilton, senior systems designer for World of Warcraft, said that work on the MMORPG was discontinued amid the scandal that Activision Blizzard got involved in. Hamilton said that work will resume only when the situation with the lawsuit filed in court is resolved.
He said the following:
I do not know what to do. I don't have the answers to all the questions. I can tell you that there is almost no work on World of Warcraft right now, and it will be so until this obscenity ends. And this is not beneficial to anyone - neither the players, nor the developers, nor the shareholders.
According to Jeff Hamilton, the developers at Activision Blizzard are extremely unhappy with the response given by their management:
Activision's response to the allegations is now driving the world-class development team mad and so insane and traumatized that they have no energy left to continue making a great game.
The Senior Systems Designer expressed his approval for doing justice. He wants people who were involved in harassment and various humiliations to be punished for their actions:
I believe that all allegations of sexual harassment require a serious and fair investigation, and those responsible for them deserve both dismissal from the company and criminal prosecution. I seriously believe in equality, because regardless of gender or race, everyone deserves a safe and supportive environment at work and in life.
Other developers of the game studio also disagreed with the actions of the leadership of Blizzard Entertainment, and in their opinion, the reaction of top managers to the current situation could be much better. On July 24, all Activision Blizzard employees refused to go to work, thus organizing a rally in support of the victims and expressing their disagreement with their superiors.
On July 22, the California Department of Labor and Housing Rights charged Activision Blizzard with an unacceptable flourishing of a "guy-of-brotherhood" culture in its employees. This includes sexual harassment of female employees as well as drinking alcohol in the workplace. The incumbent President of Activision Blizzard, Jay Allen Brack, sent a letter to all employees condemning this behavior, noting his fight against this phenomenon, and also urged them to stop their actions.
Earlier, the former president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, Michael Morheim, spoke about the situation. He confirmed the existence of such a phenomenon in the gaming industry:
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.
You can read the material with Morheim's appeal here.
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