Why World of Warcraft players are protesting developer Blizzard in-game

World of warcraftThe current Oribos social center is full of players, but that’s not due to a new raid or an update. Hundreds of gamers are taking part in an in-game protest against Activision Blizzard after a lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The court documents contain allegations of a “boy-boy culture” that subjects employees to “constant sexual harassment.”

The protest was hosted by Fence Macabre, a role-playing guild that runs faction-neutral stories on the Wyrmrest Accord and Moon Guard servers. In addition, the group is running a fundraising campaign for the Black Girls Code charity, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching computer programming and digital technology to girls ages 7 to 17.

The trial received wide media coverage on Wednesday evening. Many gamers have been horrified to hear about the alleged culture surrounding a game that makes sense to so many people.

As players log out of the protest, new faces show up to join the party. Many of their accounts are “under-locked,” meaning they have active playtime prepaid in their account. I sat among the protests for a moment, watching the conversation come and go. Some showed up to say goodbye and wish their fellow actors good luck, like an elf who said he was looking for a reason to return to Final Fantasy 14. Others at the sit-in took the opportunity to express their anger and frustration with specific Blizzard employees named in the lawsuit, speculating in the in-game chat about the executive who wrote the immediate response from the company.

Hinahina Gray, a Fence Macabre assistant and authenticity reader who provides an indigenous Hawaiian perspective to the media, spoke to Polygon about the protest. “Some people who have joined us are still undecided and are debating to leave the communities they have organized,” she wrote in a Discord post. “It’s never an easy decision to leave such a big emotional investment behind. Most of the people here have canceled their submarines. We wanted to have a demonstration in the game because it would allow people from all over to sit down and join us. As we still have time to play, we might as well try to do something with it.

She also recognizes that for some players, the decision is difficult.

“Saying this is an emotional loss, a lot of people in our extended communities are struggling, especially people who are also marginalized who have been able to find other people like them and cultivate a sense of belonging,” Gray said. “As a queer native, I really feel it. Although I have external support systems and resources in real life, finding these communities in a shared hobby is particularly meaningful. “