The world of video games is not exempt from sexual and gender scandals.
The American company Activision Blizzard, in particular at the origin of the famous game "Call of Duty", accumulates accusations of sexual assault and even rape among its employees.
To the point that more than 150 employees of the firm demonstrated Tuesday, November 16 in front of the headquarters of the video game publisher to call for the resignation of their boss, Bobby Kotick.
"We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick is replaced and we continue to call for an independent audit to take place, and for the organization to be chosen by the employees. We are holding a strike today." , tweeted the ABK Workers Alliance, a union of employees of the group, with photos of the rally.
Under Bobby Kotick's leadership the company has been accused of mistreatment, sexual harassment, rape, and a death threat made by Kotick himself.
The board is just as complicit if they let this slide.
It's past time for Bobby to step down.
#EndAbuseInGaming #ABetterABK pic.twitter.com/4RYepNdDUc
- ABetterABK 💙 ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) November 16, 2021
More than 500 reports
Walkouts are extremely rare in large tech companies in the United States.
But the proliferation of accusations got the better of the patience of the employees.
Former employees unanimously denounce the abuses of an essentially male, juvenile and sexist environment.
Since the opening of a California justice investigation, Activision Blizzard has received more than 500 reports of harassment, sexual assault and discrimination.
The video game mogul soon to be game over?
After an investigation by the Californian justice into several complaints of harassment in the company, Bobby Kotick is now confronted with the revelations of the Wall Street Journal.
In its article, the American economic daily reveals that the CEO of Activision Blizzard has concealed harassment complaints from the management board of the firm.
The boss had known about internal reports of abusive behavior for years, including a rape charge, but did not share that information with the board.
According to the newspaper, he even tried to buy the silence of the collaborator denouncing a rape.
Death threat
Worse, Bobby Kotick was himself the subject of an accusation of harassment by one of his assistants in 2006 - an accusation following which he had threatened her with death in a message left on his answering machine.
The boss apologized sixteen years ago for the facts and recognized a "hyperbolic and inappropriate message", pleaded a spokesperson for the video game publisher.
More recently, at the end of July, the creator of the blockbuster "Call of Duty" was accused this time of promoting a culture of harassment, sexist and toxic, and of career inequalities by a Californian authority.
A lawsuit was filed in a Los Angeles court.
Faced with such accusations, the company has obviously reacted.
A spokesperson for the group told AFP that the Wall Street Journal article had given a "misleading" view of Activision Blizzard and its boss.
"Measures have been taken for cases of sexual harassment that have been brought to his attention," he said.
WIG FR is mobilized 7 days a week to help & support victims of toxic behavior in the video game industry:
➡Guide against cyber-harassment: https://t.co/ARuCI4AaIA
➡Chan Discord dedicated to the testimonies of victims
➡3 emails for confidential listening pic.twitter.com/ZuICcVM9s6
- Women in Games 🇫🇷 (@wig_fr) June 24, 2020
Fall on the stock market
In the turmoil, the person also stepped up to the plate. "Anyone who doubts my determination (to make the company) the most welcoming and inclusive place to work does not realize how important it is to me," said Bobby Kotick. a video message broadcast internally, before the event.
The video game giant further said in mid-October that "more than 20 people" had left the company in light of reports and accusations, and that more than 20 other employees had been disciplined while remaining employees of Activision Blizzard. "Under Bobby Kotick's leadership, the company is already implementing fundamental changes like zero tolerance for harassment, a hiring policy designed to significantly increase the percentage of women and non-binary people in our workforce, and external investments to improve the chances of more diverse profiles, "the board of directors said in a statement on Tuesday.
While waiting for justice to be pronounced, Activision Blizzard suffered on the stock market, losing more than 6.09% after the publication of the Wall Street Journal article.
Is it ultimately the economic argument that will get the better of Bobby Kotick's future?
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