Former World of Warcraft designer apologizes for BlizzCon 2010 response

A 2010 clip of a fan asking a panel of Activision Blizzard employees at BlizzCon to better portray body shapes in World of Warcraft has gone viral in the past few days. Now, one of the video’s panelists has apologized for the comments, saying the panel didn’t take his question seriously and the clip itself “hasn’t aged well.”

In the clip, a woman notes the “very strong female characters” in World of Warcraft before asking when the developers plan to feature women who don’t appear to be “out of a Victoria’s Secret catalog.” The woman’s comments immediately received applause from the fans in attendance, followed by an overwhelming wave of boos and taunts. The panelists then offer dismissive answers to the question.

A panelist asks, “What do you mean? And another said, “Which catalog would you like them to come out of?” Even after the woman walks away from the microphone, panelists continue to laugh at the question. One of the panelists is J. Allen Brack, the current president of Blizzard. Another is Alex Afrasiabi, a former World of Warcraft creative director who has been accused of harassing female employees.

Another of the panelists, Greg Street, recently said on Twitter that he wished he had said “something better then” and that was a “shitty response”. He claimed that it was difficult to see the woman’s face from the scene. He apologized to the player who asked the question, as well as everyone else who was disappointed with the answer. He also said he found the video embarrassing on a personal level.

This clip was circulated in part because of the high-profile lawsuit filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing over the alleged “fraternity house” culture of serial harassment, discrimination and sexism. ‘company. More than a thousand current and former employees of the company have signed an open letter condemning the company’s response to the lawsuit, declaring that they will not be silenced.