On Blizzard/Activision lawsuit

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 06:51:00 -0000

Some of y'all know that my podcasting/streaming/video knowledge has some origins in gaming. I'm actually a part of a esports team as a marketing consultant.

Activision/Blizzard, makers of a game that I have invested THOUSANDS of hours in both playing and creating content for was recently sued by the state of California for exhibiting sexist and lude behavior towards their female employees.

Reminder: Companies are:

A. Made up of people. Terrible people make a terrible culture. Often the actions of the terrible folks make life hell for the folks just wanting to do their job. B. First and foremost about making a profit. If you want to make culture change, stop allowing companies to profit from bad behaviourl

I recently stopped creating content that supports this company and I am appalled. While no behavior from companies surprise me anymore, I want to take the time to remind folks:

Be Excellent to one another

Believe that people work as hard as you do and deserve what you deserve (unless you are a shit person).

Believe people when they say they aren't being treated fairly. Profiting off of pity is extremely rare. People put themselves at risk of retaliation when they speak up.

Say something when you see it. A culture that causes people to leave their dream industry is not a culture worth protecting.

It's important for people to feel like they can trust the people they work with. If you did something terrible admit it, show remorse for your actions, take time to learn from it, and make sure you work to become an ally and support the same people you hurt.

Don't push underrepresented folks to come to your side and be the mediator. If behavior is wrong, it's wrong and the people that are defending your bad stance are mostly doing it to progress in their job and take care of the things that are most important to them.

Don't just think people can quit. I worked a job I didn't like for almost a decade dreaming of the day I would be able to get away from it. Also I shouldn't have to quit because the people around me are terrible. You don't fix bad behavior by quitting and letting it continue.