Former Blizzard boss Mike Morhaime responds to Activision lawsuit

Longtime Blizzard Co-Founder and Boss Mike Morhaime took to Twitter shortly after midnight Friday to comment on the widespread allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination to the gaming company he ran for so long. “To the Blizzard women who have been through any of these things, I am extremely sorry to have disappointed you”, he wrote. “I hear you, I believe you, and I’m sorry I let you down.”

Morhaime helped found the World of warcraft and Diablo developer upon graduating from college in 1991. Since then it has grown into one of the most prominent studios in the world, producing hits in all genres such as StarCraft, Foyer, and Monitoring. For much of this history, Morhaime was his leader, and his departure in 2018 to continue and form the new games company called Dreamhaven was widely considered to be a blow to Blizzard’s long-standing legacy.

But according to a complaint Filed in California court earlier this week by the Fair Employment and Housing Department following a two-year investigation, a ‘frat boy’ culture in the workplace prevailed throughout the company as Morhaime was CEO there.

Here is Morhaime’s statement in full:

I have read the full Activision Blizzard complaint and many other stories. It is all very disturbing and difficult to read. I am ashamed. I feel like everything I thought I was standing for has been taken away. What’s worse but even more important, real people have been hurt and some women have had terrible experiences.

I worked at Blizzard for 28 years. During this time, I have tried very hard to create a safe and welcoming environment for people of all genders and backgrounds. I knew it wasn’t perfect, but clearly we were a long way from that goal. The fact that so many women have been abused and not supported means that we have let them down. Additionally, we have failed to make people feel safe speaking their truth. It’s no consolation that other companies have faced similar challenges. I wanted us to be different, better.

Harassment and discrimination exist. They are prevalent in our industry. It is the responsibility of management to ensure that all employees feel safe, supported and treated fairly, regardless of their gender and origin. It is the responsibility of leaders to eradicate toxicity and harassment in all its forms, at all levels of the company. To the Blizzard women who have been through any of these things, I am extremely sorry to have disappointed you.

I realize these are just words, but I wanted to thank the women who have had terrible experiences. I hear you, I believe you, and I’m sorry I let you down. I want to hear your stories, if you are willing to share them. As a leader in our industry, I can and will use my influence to make positive change and fight misogyny, discrimination and harassment wherever I can. I believe we can do better, and I believe the gaming industry can be a place where women and minorities are welcomed, included, supported, recognized, rewarded and, ultimately, without the ability to. make the kinds of contributions we all agree with. industry to do. I want the mark I leave on this industry to be something we can all be proud of.

Since news of the allegations broke on July 21, former Blizzard developers have spoke on social networks about the harassment and abuse they have suffered or witnessed. VScurrent developers have distanced themselves of the society public and internal statements and inviting him to make changes.

Activision Blizzard’s response so far has been to challenge the accuracy of the accusations by suggesting that they only reflect things from the past. “The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past,” a company spokesperson said. Kotaku. “The image that DFEH paints is not today’s Blizzard workplace. “

Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Blizzard President J. Allen Brack emailed staff earlier this week calling for the allegations “extremely disturbing. In that post, he failed to mention that he was personally named in the lawsuit as someone who failed to stop another developer from sexually harassing female colleagues. This developer, Alex Afrasiabi, contributed World of warcraft no later than 2020, and many NPCs and in-game items still refer to him. A video recording of Brack and Afrasiabi making sexist and condescending remarks about a fan’s question during a BlizzCon 2010 panel also did the tour online, following an appearance Industry-wide reassessment of Blizzard’s history.

Call of Duty Manufacturer Activision acquired Blizzard in 2008 and, following the merger, formed a new parent company called Activision Blizzard. While the two subsidiaries have largely operated separately, Activision’s role in Blizzard’s day-to-day operations is said to have been grew after leaving Morhaime in 2018.

Last year, Blizzard released a remaster of WarCraft 3 called WarCraft 3: Reforged it was so unpopular the company almost immediately started offering refunds for it. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, increased financial pressure from Activision is partly responsible for recent unusual flops like this. Some of the new changes would have included meetings suddenly attended by finance people which would not normally have been there before the company’s cultural change. Several long-time Blizzard developers, including the old one Monitoring director Jeff Kaplan, have started to leave the company in recent years.

Dreamhaven, Morhaime’s latest venture, has a mission statement that begins by stating that it wants to highlight a greater variety of voices and “provide a safe space where developers, creators and gamers can meaningfully connect.”