Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

axios.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 570 posts

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#231

Post by marricks »

sandworm101 wrote: post #177

Appeal to public opinion is generally a great idea but there is a risk. Activision gets no sympathy from me, but I also don't think the answer will come from the masses. I'm not sure that most gamers really care about sexism in the gaming industry. Video games are synthetic, we don't really see the people behind them. At least in movies we see the actors. If push comes to shove, I think most gamers will still be lini…

Are you lumping in the workers of Blizzard with the "masses" of gamers saying actions by either wont have a consequence? That's what it reads like.

I think ultimately the workers staging a walk out or even stopping work would have the quickest and surest effect. The government setting labor standards isn't always the most effective, not to mention no one knows the pain suffered or actions needed more than the workers themselves.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#232

Post by nomrom »

mdorazio wrote: post #220
thesausageking wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where they'll feel it the most is in hiring. Everyone in the industry is watching and if they don't fix their house, it will be very hard for them to hire and retain the engineers and designers who build and run their games.

Don’t think I agree with this. Rampant sexism and general abuse of workers has been an open secret in the game development world for many years now, and people still line up to work at the big studios because they love games.

Doesn't mean it can't change. It has to start somewhere.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#233

Post by cletus »

If you haven't read the state of California's claims here you should. It's the result of a two year investigation and the claims are.. shocking.

I want to make a point about "culture fit". "Culture fit" in a company typically comes down to "we like you" and the reason why people like other people is that they are like them. Similar age, background, whatever. It's why Stanford grads probably like other Stanford grads.

This "we like you" can and does lead to discrimination.

But here's the even darker side of this. Toxic cultures of sexual harassment as alleged in the complaint against Activision-Blizzard always come down to a few key individuals who then "spread" by hiring or promoting other people who are like then. I doubt this is ever explicit. It's more that you can sense a fellow predator (make no mistake: they are preying on vulnerable staff).

So without intervention this toxicity will tend to spread. Those who oppose it will leave. Those who tow the lines get promoted.

And it's leadership's responsibility to root this out and eliminate it. Heads should roll here. Maybe even J Allen Brack's and/or Bobby Kotick's. If you want to take credit for the successes you also have to take responsibility for the giant failures here.

Oh and whoever wrote and sent out that statement about how the state was pursuing this was why so many businesses are leaving California needs to be fired. It was so utterly tone deaf and irrelevant.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#234

Post by sandworm101 »

thesausageking wrote: post #208
sandworm101 wrote: post #177

Appeal to public opinion is generally a great idea but there is a risk. Activision gets no sympathy from me, but I also don't think the answer will come from the masses. I'm not sure that most gamers really care about sexism in the gaming industry. Video games are synthetic, we don't really see the people behind them. At least in movies we see the actors. If push comes to shove, I think most gamers will still be lini…

Where they'll feel it the most is in hiring. Everyone in the industry is watching and if they don't fix their house, it will be very hard for them to hire and retain the engineers and designers who build and run their games.

But that too makes a dangerous assumption. This behavior is not uncommon. Having a reputation for such behavior may just attract similar people, people who want to work in such environments. While they would probably get fewer women, they might get more of exactly the wrong type of men.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#235

Post by [deleted] »

healsdata wrote: post #85
dreyfan wrote: post #58

Blizzard hasn't produced a decent game in two decades, all the original talent have long departed, and now it's just a sexist cesspool. How about they quit instead of simply walking out?

Some of the folks you're probably grouping in with "original talent" were responsible for building the sexist cesspool. Many of the complaints, both in the lawsuit and by (ex-)employees are not recent events.

[deleted]

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#236

Post by crooked-v »

blacktriangle wrote: post #144
madamelic wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look up what sparked Gamergate. It was largely based in men getting mad about women calling games out for being misogynistic. I am sure some was valid criticism. I am not really a fan of "every game must be progressive", etc. but the fact men got mad that women dared criticize video games should say a lot about the state of the video game industry. Not only that, but also, for a long time, video games just weren't ma…

Gamer gate was Zoe Quinn cheating on her boyfriend with game "journalists" in order to get marketing for her Depression Quest game. That is the core of it and NOBODY contests those facts. The rest of the misandrist narrative is just Quinn and said journalists grabbing on to the social justice zietgiest in an attempt to do damage control.

> and NOBODY contests those facts

Quinn's ex-boyfriend, who made the original claims, later explicitly said:

> To be clear, if there was any conflict of interest between Zoe and Nathan regarding coverage of Depression Quest prior to April, I have no evidence to imply that it was sexual in nature.

For further context, the only coverage the journalist in question made of Quinn's work was before they had met, and well before the April in question.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#237

Post by mehlmao »

Two years ago, during the Blitzchung / Hong Kong incident, I deleted the Battle.net account I had held since Warcraft III. I would encourage everyone else to do so too. It's definitely easier now that Blizzard no longer makes the best (or even good) games in any genre.

Activision Blizzard's Chief Compliance Officer released an absolutely disgusting statement in response to the lawsuit: https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1418619091515068421

It's surreal knowing that she is also complicit in the war crimes committed at Abu Ghraib (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Townsend#Career).

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#238

Post by amatecha »

himinlomax wrote: post #199
madamelic wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Battlefield 5. I like the fact that someone else responded with another that also works. It shows how frequently this happens.

It was not criticized because there was a woman, it was criticized because there was a cyborg woman when it was supposed to be a WW2 game. And I think it was indeed a really stupid picture. Also my grandmother was a prisoner of war of the nazis and got real medals. That fantastic representation of women in war is just idiotic and distorts history to the point of absurdity.

Cyborg woman? You mean the woman with an arm prosthetic? Come on.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#240

Post by dreyfan »

void_mint wrote: post #82
dreyfan wrote: post #58

Blizzard hasn't produced a decent game in two decades, all the original talent have long departed, and now it's just a sexist cesspool. How about they quit instead of simply walking out?

Generous to think the original talent didn't cultivate the sexist cesspool it is today. I certainly don't extend them that grace. Morhaime was involved. Kaplan was involved. Nobody in executive leadership is innocent.

Oh I'm not defending the original talent whatsoever in regards to the cesspool, sorry that came out as connnected. I'm only saying they were responsible for making good games and all that remains is a toxic culture.
Post reply on HN