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Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

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Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#71

Post by jchrisa »

adkadskhj wrote: post #64
brainfish wrote: post #26

I cut my teeth on Diablo, and played Diablo II for probably fifteen years after its release off and on as a way to stay connected with a friend who loved it similarly. More recently, I have consistently played Starcraft II since its release and enjoy a sense of mastery over that game unparalleled by my experience in any other. I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle[1] and qui…

`

The myth of shareholder value is roundly rejected by the people who's job it is to think about these things: https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2012/06/26/the-shareholder-v...

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#72

Post by whatshisface »

adkadskhj wrote: post #64
brainfish wrote: post #26

I cut my teeth on Diablo, and played Diablo II for probably fifteen years after its release off and on as a way to stay connected with a friend who loved it similarly. More recently, I have consistently played Starcraft II since its release and enjoy a sense of mastery over that game unparalleled by my experience in any other. I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle[1] and qui…

`

>Ie why would Blizzard be okay with workers unionizing for better work conditions? It seems unlikely that would favor Blizzard in the short term[1].

Well, if everyone reading about Blizzard's malfeasance decides to not do business with them, as some commenters in this thread are doing, then they will suffer a problem in the short term as well.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#73

Post by krastanov »

noptd wrote: post #55
ashtonkem wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m actually seeing a lot of rage directed at them from the gaming forums I interact on, including a lot of people claiming that they’ve canceled. Completely anecdotal, I know, but it was not what I expected at all. I think this one is going to hurt more than usual.

There's a decently sized cohort that hasn't forgiven ActiBlizzard for what they did to Warcraft III as well. Nothing like ruining a 20 year old game by forceably replacing it with a broken, partial reimplementation.

I am out of the loop, could you elaborate?

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#74

Post by danaris »

ashtonkem wrote: post #23

Union busting behavior is not that surprising, but talk about awful timing. Do the people at the top not consider the PR implications of this stuff?

They're probably more worried about what happens if they have to actually face a unionized workforce than what the public might say about them hiring a union-busting law firm.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#75

Post by philliphaydon »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #61
aeoleonn wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Check out Path of Exile 2 -- it's the spiritual successor to Diablo 2. And it's freemium

It's a great game, but if you are concerned about Freedom in Hong Kong, Grinding Gear Games is owned by Tencent, so you are still sending money to support an authoritarian regime that is still finishing up their latest installment of ethnic cleansing and re-education camps.

I had no idea. Looks like I won’t be playing PoE 2. Thanks.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#76

Post by azornathogron »

biryani_chicken wrote: post #58
runawaybottle wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They don’t really care that much about the American market anymore really. Something like 90% of League of Legends players are in China. The mobile gaming market is massive over there, hence Diablo Immortal. China does not care about the West’s uproar over most things. Blizzard does not care if you buy Diablo 4, they care if the East buys Diablo 4 and Diablo Immortal.

It's dystopian to see Chinese people consume American products at the expense of American workers.

Turn-about is fair play, right?

Less tongue-in-cheek, I'm really not sure it's China's responsibility to ensure good working conditions in the foreign companies that produce the goods they want to buy, and I'm not sure it's the west's responsibility to ensure good working conditions for the Chinese workers who produce the goods we buy either. I feel I may be in the minority with that view though.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#78

Post by xbar »

juped wrote: post #22
unyttigfjelltol wrote: post #9

WilmerHale is not a notorious union-busting firm. The older set might know their work from A Civil Action, and their grandparents might remember the phrase that turned the red scare, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"[1] The marketing material is unfortunate, though, and the connection with Amazon labor work is notable. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_Cutler_Pickering_Hale...

yeah they're just biglaw, any biglaw firm does everything

This seems accurate.

Contextually, ActiBlizz is responding to the DFEH situation with a new biglaw firm.

Will ActiBlizz use WH's union-response services? I would be surprised if they don't. WH will likely sell guidance about what can be legally done to chill early unionization pressures. If unionization efforts really get rolling at ActiBlizz, no doubt they will spend more at WH.

What is good: WH's tactics at Amazon, AL were monitored and reported as disgusting. If they repeat those at ActiBlizz, there may be pressures for regulators to increase protections against corporate interference of unionization efforts.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#79

Post by rl3 »

cratermoon wrote: post #25
unyttigfjelltol wrote: post #9

WilmerHale is not a notorious union-busting firm. The older set might know their work from A Civil Action, and their grandparents might remember the phrase that turned the red scare, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"[1] The marketing material is unfortunate, though, and the connection with Amazon labor work is notable. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_Cutler_Pickering_Hale...

What does any of that have to do with whether or not the firm is notorious for union-busting? Representing a polluting corporation against citizens suing it for making them sick is 100% compatible with busting unions. [Originally I had gotten this backwards and stated that WilmerHale represented the citizens]

>What does any of that have to do with whether or not the firm is notorious for union-busting?

I'm wondering the same. I suppose it comes down to the semantics of where notoriety begins, but they're representing some slimy clients regardless.[0]

>Representing citizens in a lawsuit against a polluting corporation is not incompatible with busting unions.

Oh no, they were defending the polluter—Beatrice Foods—against said lawsuits.[1]

[0] https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/jamie-gorelick-amazons-a...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmer_Cutler_Pickering_Hale_a...

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#80

Post by cybwraith »

pm90 wrote: post #3

Is there any way to break the stranglehold of large studios and enable smaller studios to build high quality games? I loved Blizzard back when they made their OG triad (Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft) now it just seems indistinguishable from…EA. How can we enable more scrappy Blizzards?

Check out Grim Dawn if you want that old school Diablo feel
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