WoW Twitch Streamers Speak Out on Blizzard Harassment Suit

Late Wednesday it emerged that Activision Blizzard is sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing on a toxic work culture that allegedly led to years of harassment and abuse targeting women. Later in the week, a number of World of warcraft the streamers have publicly commented on the retrial. Many others remain silent.

Content Warning: Sexual Harassment

the initial Bloomberg story showed that on July 20, after a two-year investigation by the CDFEH, the department filed a complaint against the Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo the publisher to force him to comply with California workplace laws and regulations. The lawsuit contains allegations by some really horrible offenses committed by men in the company, including “constant” sexual harassment, frequent trial and error, and other examples of truly horrible behavior. In addition, he describes an institutional lack of help or support for victims from management or hierarchy.

Since the story broke, the fallout has become widespread, with the developers and creators of Twitter and other social media sharing their disappointment, shock and, in some cases, personal stories of the harassment and toxic behaviors they’ve had. ‘they lived when they worked in the gaming industry.

Read more: Blizzard boss accused of failing to address sexual harassment calls new allegations “disturbing”

Some of the most popular World of warcraft Streamers explained how disappointed and sad they were to hear the news. High Wow Twitch broadcaster Asmonor, in a public statement shared on twitter, said he was “hurt” by the news as a longtime fan of the publisher.

“Ashamed to hear about what would have happened at Blizzard,” Asmongold wrote. “As a fan for over 20 years, it really hurts to see how things have turned out so horribly. It just makes me sad.

He followed this statement with a video on July 23. In the video on Twitter, he explained that Blizzard developers should not be hassled by gamers online over the details of the lawsuit. He also said it wasn’t fair for people to ask streamers who only played World of warcraft to stop playing.

“If they go to another game their stream is going to be fucking dead. You know it, I know, everybody fucking knows it.” Asmongold said. “I don’t think it’s fair to ask or ask. expect someone to give up their career because of something they had nothing to do with. ”

Naguura, a Twitch streamer who plays frequently World of warcraft and has more than 260,000 subscribers on the platform, said she was saddened by the “disgusting behavior” in a Tweet sharing an article covering the trial. She also criticized publisher’s statement.

“It’s so sad to read all of this and know that it’s probably going on for years and years,” Naguura wrote, “Just absolutely disgusting behavior and apparently so many top officials are“ letting it go. ”And that statement does not. it just isn’t either.

She followed up with an additional comment pointing out that this type of toxic behavior against women happens all the time, and asked people to “speak up” for women and not look away if they witness “absolutely disgusting behavior”.

Popular World of warcraft banner, Napkin, even said they would no longer stream the MMORPG until they see a plan from Activision Blizzard to fight the charges found in the lawsuit.

“I had no intention of playing Wow streaming for next week, ”Towelliee said,“ And now I won’t be streaming it afterwards until there’s some sort of statement with a plan of action and an explanation. I don’t know how far this rabbit hole goes and I’m afraid of the end result.

Read more: Activision Blizzard’s Fallout trial is what women have always said

Other popular World of warcraft the streamers came out to publicly acknowledge and in some cases condemn the behavior cited in the lawsuit, including Slootbag, Advice and Maximum. Macabre fence, a Wow role play guild, leads a demonstration against Activision Blizzard in the game itself. Polygon reports that hundreds of players raise funds for the charity group Black Girls Code by participating in a sit-in protest at one of the Wow ‘s major social centers.

However, many other popular World of warcraft clans and streamers have yet to say anything about the situation. As of this writing, only one of the top 10 Wow banners (according to TwitchMetrics.net), Maximum, posted a statement or tweet about the trial. Many others remain silent, tweeting on other topics.

Kotaku has contacted all of the streamers mentioned in this article for comment.

It’s surprising to see so many World of warcraft the streamers remain silent, although I also understand that this is not a topic that everyone wants to read or cover. The costume contains descriptions of truly horrific and sad events, and I respect if people don’t want to read or engage in content they might find triggering.

That said, Clans and bigger streamers might have other reasons to avoid the topic. Some will have legal obligations or financial agreements with sponsors and other companies that may appeal Activision Blizzard feel difficult. Others might fear hitting such a powerful target. There is also the sad reality that, based on the comments and tweets responding to the streamers who have spoken, some may fear alienating their fans.

However, the fact that some well-known Wow streamers have previously commented on shows that there is in fact a way to speak out against the terrible allegations revealed by the lawsuit. And like other stories of sexually harassed women and victims of discrimination continue to be reported in more and more studios and publishers, women will need more support from larger, more widely heard voices if there is to be any hope of improving this industry and reforming its often toxic culture.