The Activision Blizzard Situation ¿Any Thoughts?

[Major Arlene]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Freeze said:

 

That'd be the moral obligation, but as well all know, opportunism supersedes morality when your job is on the line. Why do the right thing if keeping your head down or participating in the harassment will net you a check? 

It's not that they want a check. They want change. Why should they leave when they haven't done anything wrong?
https://twitter.com/ABetterABK

[Biodegradable]

Not to mention how increasingly difficult it is to get a job and keep it in this day and age. Most people don't have the luxury of just being able to quit their job at the drop of a hat. It also doesn't help that the gaming industry has a history of blacklisting people for speaking up, criticising employers, going on strike, etc. It's why a grand majority of people in gaming willing to speak to journalists about corruption, unfair treatment, dreadful working conditions, sexual harassment and other assorted injustices choose to remain anonymous.

Edited November 17, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Lizardcommando]

Good points all around. Man, what a fucked up situation.

[Captain red pants]

I do like that both Activision and Ubisoft require their own launchers for their games making boycotting them very easy.

[Nine Inch Heels]

9 hours ago, Mr. Freeze said:

That'd be the moral obligation, but as well all know, opportunism supersedes morality when your job is on the line. Why do the right thing if keeping your head down or participating in the harassment will net you a check? 

 

9 hours ago, Major Arlene said:

It's not that they want a check. They want change. Why should they leave when they haven't done anything wrong?
https://twitter.com/ABetterABK

I mean... The problem is you're both right, but I also think Arlene kind of misinterpreted the point of the argument... Obviously, nobody would want to work in such an environment, and it certainly stands to reason that recent developments didn't change much about how it feels to be working for a morally bankrupt corporation, at least not for the better...

 

But, at the bottom line, change does not come easy when nothing can really change, because the status quo is being maintained by those at the top - who nobody really seems to be able to get rid of - so the next best option is to keep a low profile, you're basically forced to make ends meet at the expense of doing the morally justified thing... Applause for doing "the right thing" doesn't put food on the table...

 

I'm pretty sure some people who could afford to up and leave refuse to do so, for various reasons, but when you look at the "foundation" of blizzard's workforce, things become a whole lot more complicated. It shouldn't be news to anybody that blizzard doesn't pay positions below middle management particularly well, and if you have the misfortune of working in the customer service, you might just barely be able to get by with just one job if you're lucky... If you're in that position, are you really going to be able and willing to pack it up..? I don't think so... And with the situation at blizzard it is, you're also not going to be able to put together much of anything that resembles a union of some sort... And god help you if you leave and spill the beans, because I hear blizzard's lawyers are pretty fucking good at shutting people down and ruining their lives...

[Rudolph]

To bring some light to this thread, am I the only one here who think that Bobby Kotick looks like he could be played by Jonah Hill?

[RDETalus]

31 minutes ago, Rudolph said:

am I the only one here who think that Bobby Kotick looks like he could be played by Jonah Hill?

I don't see the resemblance at all

[Rudolph]

Maybe much less so now that Jonah Hill has become rather jacked, I guess.

[Stupid Bunny]

I guess Bobby Kotick looks like Jonah Hill if Jonah Hill's skin grew like 8 sizes and then got sun-dried and wadded back onto his body

 

And yeah the thing @Rudolph said is also true

[Lizardcommando]

Barf! Kotick looks like one of those trolls from Lord of the Rings, except it skinned some poor human and is wearing their skin.

[scalliano]

On 11/16/2021 at 11:54 PM, Mr. Freeze said:

 

That'd be the moral obligation, but as well all know, opportunism supersedes morality when your job is on the line. Why do the right thing if keeping your head down or participating in the harassment will net you a check? 

Absolutely this.

 

The proletariat are indeed NOT revolutionaries.

[Rudolph]

If they ever make a movie in the vein of The Social Network about this whole saga, Jonah Hill would be a good choice, I think.

 

Also, I cannot help but see Jonah Hill when I see this picture of Bobby Kotick at his most Kotick-esque:

 

 

[whybmonotacrab]

On 11/17/2021 at 10:38 AM, Lizardcommando said:

How much more dirt like this will convince more people to straight up quit and walk away from this company? I'm surprised there hasn't been a massive walk out from this company yet.

Having read some tweets and watched some youtube videos involving devs there's a few reasons:
 

One, Activision Blizzard isn't the only company doing this. Trying to find another business that will use your skills will probably have a similarly toxic environment. We know that Ubisoft and Quantic Dream engage in this bullshit, and I'm willing to bet most of the big companies also engage in this - they're just not being investigated. It's a cultural issue, not just an Activision-Blizzard one.

 

 Second: These people are living their dreams. A lot of tweets have said that the people their love the job they have. They love creating virtual worlds. It's their life passion. They just very much dislike the awful dehumanising bullshit that comes with it. They don't want different jobs. They want their jobs to be better.

[Major Arlene]

uh oh.

 

 

[Azuris]

2 hours ago, Major Arlene said:

uh oh.

 

 

 

Sonys Jim Ryan also made Position against Kotick.

 

Since Sony has Affiliations with Activision Blizzard over Call of Duty, this Partnership could fire Back for Sony in Reputation, in Stocks and other Business

(as you linked happened now for Activision Blizzard).

 

So it may be a tactical Choice from Mr. Ryan, but it shows that the Leadership of Kotick and everything caused by it within the Company is hurting in a Crossfire in every possible Way now.

 

I can not imagine how Activision Blizzard can recuperate to work under normal Conditions.

 

Every future Work will be made to show that they aren't bad and judged double and thrice.

[Lizardcommando]

14 hours ago, whybmonotacrab said:

Having read some tweets and watched some youtube videos involving devs there's a few reasons:
 

One, Activision Blizzard isn't the only company doing this. Trying to find another business that will use your skills will probably have a similarly toxic environment. We know that Ubisoft and Quantic Dream engage in this bullshit, and I'm willing to bet most of the big companies also engage in this - they're just not being investigated. It's a cultural issue, not just an Activision-Blizzard one.

 

 Second: These people are living their dreams. A lot of tweets have said that the people their love the job they have. They love creating virtual worlds. It's their life passion. They just very much dislike the awful dehumanising bullshit that comes with it. They don't want different jobs. They want their jobs to be better.

Ugh, what a shitty, shitty situation all around. Something has got to give. I hope getting rid of scumbags like Kotic will trigger a domino effect and more scum will be ousted from their positions.

[Biodegradable]

 

Employees are calling for Blobby Snotick's resignation with a petition containing over 1200 signatures. This isn't anonymous or a useless Change.org petition either, it's completely in-house and public with people's names and job descriptions on full-display. The working bones of the company have well and truly had enough and are willing to put their careers on the line to see this man fired. I for one admire their courage given my last post outlining why gaming employees have previously chosen to remain anonymous for these occasions.

[Murdoch]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

I for one admire their courage given my last post outlining why gaming employees have previously chosen to remain anonymous for these occasions.

 

Indeed. Very ballsy. It is a clever, and calculated risk. It is one thing to fire a handful of "agitators", another thing to fire 1275 to speak out about the CEO being human trash. Hard to replace that many staff, not to mention the PR fallout, the potential multiple lawsuits for unfair dismissal, and the reputation damage for prospective new employees - "Do I want to go to work for a company with a shit reputation that just sacked 1275 for trying to get better working conditions? I hear Wendys is hiring..."

Edited November 19, 2021 by Murdoch

[Rudolph]

Hopefully, workers will use this momentum to organize into an union. 

 

Because if they do not, I fear that even with Bobby Kotick out of the picture, the workplace conditions are not going to improve much.

[Biodegradable]

Another video from the illustrious Jim Sterling on new developments on the story.

 

 

Unfortunately, it's not good news.

[Major Arlene]

So now, Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo heads have all made it known they're not happy with him either. I'm going to take those votes of non-confidence with the biggest grain of salt ever created though. Talk is cheap these days.

[Murdoch]

8 hours ago, Biodegradable said:

Unfortunately, it's not good news.

 

Brother, when was the last time Jim actually reported good news? I stopped following him because his channel just got depressing. Might watch this though. Jim does have a way with words when ripping someone to bits.

[Biodegradable]

7 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

Brother, when was the last time Jim actually reported good news? I stopped following him because his channel just got depressing.

 

Funny enough, they acknowledge that little factoid at the very beginning and their justification is admirable.

[Murdoch]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

 

Funny enough, they acknowledge that little factoid at the very beginning and their justification is admirable.

 

Oh sure, I am glad he does what he does. This stuff needs to be stamped out without mercy. It's just kind of a lot to keep hearing about.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Murdoch

[Azuris]

Reading This lets me think that he really doesn't care whats happening.

 

Thats why it is just so a big Joke that Managers as him explain that they "earn" such insane amount of Money because of the Responsibility they have for all those Employees, the Investors and the Fate of the Company.

 

But when they crash hard, they show none of the Responsibility, they took even more Money.

People can lose their Jobs, Customers get low Quality Products and Investors lose their Money.

 

[Biodegradable]

News from the Call of Duty mines: Raven Software reports that Activision/Blizzard promised raises for their QA department for months, but will instead now only be doing so for a scant few and be firing the majority of its contracted playtesters. Despite its overwhelmingly bad press given the undergoing investigations and lawsuits, the company seems to not at all be interested in trying to save face and is completely fine with its reputation of being The Absolute Fucking Worst and continuing its grotesque, recurring skinflint practice of firing its staff at the end of every fiscal year (regardless that they keep making all the money in the world) so they can keep their investors happy and give Bobby another billion dollar raise. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Biodegradable

[Biodegradable]

Apologies for the double-post!

 

Activision/Blizzard employees are forming a union called ABK Worker's Alliance and are building a strike fund using GoFundMe with a goal of $1M. The initial funds will be used as wage assistance for active strikers and to help compensate all the aforementioned Raven Software playtesters that were fired last week as they try to find new jobs.

[Murdoch]

1 hour ago, Biodegradable said:

Apologies for the double-post!

 

Activision/Blizzard employees are forming a union called ABK Worker's Alliance and are building a strike fund using GoFundMe with a goal of $1M. The initial funds will be used as wage assistance for active strikers and to help compensate all the aforementioned Raven Software playtesters that were fired last week as they try to find new jobs.

 

Don't think 6 days apart qualifies as double post brother.

 

I forget what level we were at. We passed dumpster fire months ago. We're past clusterfuck too i think. What's after that? This like the horrible gift that keeps on giving. Maybe literally everyone but the board should quit and start a new company.

 

Edit: holy crap someone donated 10 grand on the gofundme. 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Murdoch

[Biodegradable]

23 minutes ago, Murdoch said:

I forget what level we were at. We passed dumpster fire months ago. We're past clusterfuck too i think. What's after that?

 

Shambolic McFuckBurger with Catastrope Sauce™ 

[Murdoch]

5 minutes ago, Biodegradable said:

 

Shambolic McFuckBurger with Catastrope Sauce™ 

 

That's it.