Blizzard then got a little bit of a break. They settled an EEOC gender discrimination lawsuit for a cool $18 million. The money would be split between complainants and initiatives to promote diversity in gaming. It wasn’t lost on the gaming community that this is a pittance for the multibillion-dollar company, and Kotaku pointed out that CEO Bobby Kotick made almost 10 times that in 2021.
… and apparently, Bobby Kotick heard that what they said about him because in late October, he asked for a pay cut. In an act of extremely eye-rolling martyrdom, he cut his salary to the lowest possible and stripped himself of all bonuses. My heart really goes out to him. Now all he has is a $62k salary … and millions upon millions upon millions in the bank. You’ll see him at Goodwill next time he needs a suit, I’m sure.
Recently Blizzard got two more pieces of bad news. Jen Oneal, one of the two people who stepped up when J Allen Brack stepped away, has decided to leave Blizzard after just three months. She went to join a non-profit promoting women in gaming, a huge leap from Blizzard, which is a for-profit against women in gaming. (You made the right choice, Jen.)
But to be honest, people leaving the company is just bad press. Execs leave, and everyone thinks the ship is sinking, but so far, it was all hearsay. That is until their earnings call, where Blizzard was forced to admit that they’d lost 13% of their player base in the last year. That is not small potatoes. And considering their games are aging, there’s no sign that those players will come back. Why would someone play Starcraft 2 when Age of Empires IV is out? Overwatch when Call of Duty and Valorant exist? And who cares that WoW is getting a re-release of its old content when Final Fantasy XIV is getting brand new content? With the delays of Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV and a name synonymous with abuse, it looks like it’ll be a long time before Blizzard comes in out of the cold.
Top Image: Blizzard
Related: Blizzard Unveils New ‘Diablo’ Game, And Fans Are Mad As Heck
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Activision Blizzard's Year Keeps Getting Worse
Source: Pinoy Daily News
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