Ex-Blizzard Dev Releases Open Letter Calling For Industry Unionization

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Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.

Content warning: The following article and links contain references to rape, suicide, verbal abuse, sexual assault, harassment, and in-game dismemberment.

A former Blizzard developer has spoken out in favor of video game developer employee unionization. Talk of game industry unions has been ongoing for some time now, with the conversation beginning anew in the wake of a lawsuit filed by a state of California agency against Activision Blizzard last week. The lawsuit detailed findings from a two-year investigation, including several accounts of alleged sexual harassment, assault, and discrimination within the publisher.

In the wake of the allegations, World of Warcraft players held an in-game protest to demand better of Blizzard, and Ubisoft employees wrote an open letter supporting Activision workers who went on strike earlier this week. As acts of protest are carried out, many are making a case for video game developers to unionize in order to better protect their workforce from the type of mistreatment Activision Blizzard has allegedly fostered.

Yesterday, IGN published an open letter by Jeff Strain, a former senior Blizzard employee who went on to co-found ArenaNet (developer of the Guild Wars series) and Undead Labs (State of Decay). In the letter, Strain said the current allegations against Activision Blizzard don't surprise him and that early signs of the environment alleged in the lawsuit were present even during his time working at Blizzard in the late 1990s.

"In 1998, after a cataclysmic meeting with one of the founders over our objections to dismembered and impaled female body parts in the beta version of Diablo, my wife and I began planning to leave Blizzard. [...] My time at Blizzard [...] showed me how abusive cultures can propagate and self-amplify over time; how 'hardcore gamers only' is a smokescreen for 'bro culture'; how fostering a sense of exceptionalism inhibits people from speaking up because they should just deal with it if they love the company and its games; and how passive leadership that turns a blind eye can ultimately be the most abusive thing of all."

Titled "It's Time," Strain’s letter calls on employees of the video game industry to unionize, saying, "If this week does not show us that our industry colleagues [...] need true support and baseline protection, I can’t imagine how much worse it will have to get." He added that he welcomes his own employees to unionize and encouraged other industry companies to do the same.

"I’m an entrepreneur, and a veteran of three successful independent studio start ups. I’m highly familiar with the financial, legal, contractual, and organizational aspects of game development. I also know that I have nothing to fear from unionization, nor does any company that pays employees fairly and equitably, provides quality health insurance, models respect and civility for female, POC, LGBTQ+ employees, and supports a healthy, whole life. [...] The giants of this industry have shown us this week that we cannot trust them to moderate and manage the wealth and power that players and fans have given them."

Sexual harassment and discrimination within the video game industry aren't the only factors in the growing demand for unionization. Over the past few years, many reports have emerged of companies like CD Projekt Red encouraging employee "crunch," pushing for long hours of work to get high-profile games out the door as fast as possible. While some recent games have garnered praise for reportedly being developed without resorting to these measures, it is still likely a prevalent issue.

These issues have been pervasive in the industry for years, if not decades, leading many to feel it is high time for game developers to form unions in order to protect themselves and their peers. Only time will tell if calls to action like Strain's open letter will lead to substantial change, either within Blizzard or in the gaming industry as a whole.

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