We've Played This Game Before

MICHAEL LEE

As the fallout for Activision Blizzard continues in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and mistreatment of women in the workplace, one has to wonder if anything will actually change in the games industry.

A two-year investigation by the State of California uncovered a persistent culture of discrimination, sexual misconduct, and frattish activity, running rampant at video game developer Activision Blizzard. The formal complaint submitted by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing against the gaming giant serving as yet another reminder that the video game industry has a problem.

There once was a time when video games existed almost exclusively in the domain of nerdy males. Bespectacled and geeky (mostly white) young men who had their lunch money stolen from them could become powerful and successful in the world of a video game. It was their space. A space where they were the cool kid. This stereotype endured for some time, but does not accurately reflect the video game industry of today. Gaming is now thoroughly entrenched in the mainstream and most reporting finds that females make up around 50% of gamers.

Yet the industry, from production through to fandom, still acts as if it is a boys’ club for enacting power fantasies. While gaming has certainly diversified, with both major and indie releases presenting stories of inclusivity—penned and developed by a wide range of people representing all walks of life—there is still a cloud that hangs over the industry at large. The relationship to power, who has it, and who is subjected by it is creating toxic workplace environments, as the State of California found when investigating Activision Blizzard.

The offenses are numerous in the Activision Blizzard case. The findings detail female employees being overlooked for promotion, placed in positions with fewer opportunities for advancement, or being underpaid once reaching positions higher up; an issue that was a crucial part of a discrimination lawsuit brought against Riot Games in 2019.

Also documented in the Activision Blizzard case are numerous accounts of sexual harassment with women subjected to intoxicated male co-worker's “cube crawls,” as well as a barrage of sexual banter from male employees that falls under the toxic “locker room talk” umbrella. Blatant sexual harassment from the C-Suite on down. The harassment was (and likely still is) so oppressive, that a female employee took her own life on a company trip after intimate photos of the employee were circulated by the male cohort of the office.

Once the DFEH filing was made public, numerous employees spoke out against the company. The employees verifying the reporting done as well as sharing their own horror stories from their time at Activision Blizzard. One story that gained traction involved several high-ranking members of Blizzard’s staff attending conventions and setting up a hotel room stocked with large amounts of alcohol which they jokingly referred to as “the Cosby Suite.”

Rinse and Repeat

This would be shocking if it weren’t so painfully familiar, as this kind of harassment has been ongoing for years in the industry. Last year, French game developer Ubisoft was held to the fire after allegations of misconduct stretching back a decade were brought to light. The accusations led to several firings and a promise to clean up the culture of the company. The dust has yet to settle, as Ubisoft is currently being sued for ‘institutional sexual harassment’ in a suit targeting a number of former executives and company CEO Yves Guillemot.

The problem is that there are no protections in place for whistleblowers and those looking to confront their harassers. HR departments only serve to shield the company, and limiting opportunities for promotion, assigning work below an employee’s grade, and threats of blacklisting in the industry, are tactics deployed by these companies to silence employees. Worse, is the steps companies are taking to ‘clean up our act’ show that change is limited to paying lip service, and pledging to “be better.” Instead of implementing actual change, these companies are only looking to bolster their defenses against complaints like the DFEH filing against Activision Blizzard.

In response to the allegations of sexual harassment at Ubisoft, the company hired former Uber executive Raashi Sikka to head up the global diversity and inclusion initiative at the company. Given Uber’s disregard for employee rights, insisting its drivers are independent contractors and prohibiting any attempts to unionize, Sikka’s hiring shows that real change might not be possible at Ubisoft. The company doubled down on Uber executives by also hiring Anika Grant, once a senior director of HR at the rideshare company.

The Military Entertainment Complex Marches On

Over at Activision Blizzard, the company has slowly been filling its roster with ghouls from previous Republican administrations, the most prominent of which being former Homeland Security Advisor to George W. Bush, Frances Townsend.

During her time in the Bush administration, Townsend defended brutal ‘interrogation techniques’ employed by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan with a straight face, showing herself to be adroit at turning a blind eye to despicable behavior. Shortly after the DFEH filing against Activision Blizzard, Townsend tweeted a link to a piece in The Atlantic on the ‘dinner-party-gate' scandal at Yale Law School centered around Amy Chua, with the caption “the problem with whistleblowing.” Townsend making the implication that the story at Yale—where a would-be whistleblower didn’t have the right information—and the current Activision Blizzard scandal share the same DNA.

Instead of believing her female employees, Townsend is insinuating that they are not victims, but are in fact self-serving liars. This baffling position is even more head shaking when considering that at the time she was the executive sponsor of Activision Blizzard’s Women’s Network, a program meant to promote diversity and networking opportunities for women and non-binary individuals considering a career in tech. To completely fail women, while spearheading an initiative like this is galling.

Also on the roster is former Trump administration Undersecretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao, who has been described as Mike Pompeo’s ‘attack dog.’ While testifying before the House, Former State Department Inspector General Steven Linick detailed several instances where Bulatao pressed Linick to ignore potential illegalities taking place in the State Department. Employing a bully who attempts to sweep problems under the rug is a good look for a company facing serious sexual harassment accusations.

What’s To Be Done?

So is it up to employees to improve the culture and protect workers through unionization? This would be a great way for employees to retain a modicum of power against these multi-billion dollar corporations, but unfortunately building a union has proven challenging for employees in the games industry. When your employer retains the services of union-busting law firm WilmerHale it sends a message that attempts to unionize will likely lead to an all-out war to secure workers’ rights. While some traction has been gained in France with the Solidaires Informatique union, attempts at unionizing in the United States have failed to materialize, even as calls for unionization continue to echo.

There is reason to be hopeful that unionization could take hold in the future, as the bad press continues to pile up, and employees grow ever more frustrated. Working conditions in the video game industry need to be addressed as grueling overtime, workplace toxicity, and harassment remain prevalent. Big time companies will stand in the way of efforts to unionize, as Amazon did this spring in Alabama, but persistence and solidarity can create change.

Time to Hit Reset

Video games are no longer just for boys. From those who play video games, to those who make them, there are already very evident signs that this industry can be inclusive and respect all gamers. The boys’ club atmosphere on display at these major companies feels like a last grasp at power, akin to the white nationalists who fear losing control of America. The video game industry is following a similar script, where a small group of repulsive men continue to see a place like Activision Blizzard as their own personal frat house. Framing like this needs to be done away with for progress to be made, and anyone who allows this to continue is equally culpable. At one time the male nerd ruled the video game domain, granting entry only to those they deemed acceptable. But now that the tide is turning—and cannot be stopped—the men unable to accept that their hobby is now everyone’s hobby are perpetuating a culture that should not be tolerated. Hopefully this latest exposé will encourage more voices to speak up and wrest power away from those looking to maintain this brutal status quo.

Michael Lee is the Editor of KOSATEN, and is currently pursuing research on Japanese fandom, with a particular focus on doujinshi and other fan-created media.