Blizzard co-founder Mike Morhaimehas responded to allegations of abuse made against Activision Blizzard.
Mike Morhaime, the former head of Activision Blizzard and co-founder of the company, has reacted to allegations of abuse against Activision Blizzard. Morhaime gave a long statement about his attempts to create an environment of safety for everyone during his time within the firm. But, his efforts were eventually dismissed.
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“I knew that it was not perfect, but clearly we weren`t even close to that target,” he said. “The fact that so many women were mistreated and were not supported means we let them down. Additionally, we failed to make it feel secure for women to tell their truth. Other companies have also faced similar challenges. I wantedus to be different, better.”
Morhaime claimed that the management is responsible for ensuring that workplace toxicity and harassment are eliminated at all levels of the company. “To those Blizzard women who were victims of one of these situationsI am so sorry that I didn`t do enough for you,” he continued.
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He asked the victims to tell him their stories when they were at ease. He stated that he would like to make use of his power as an authority in the field of video games to “help drive positive change and combat misogyny, harassment, and discrimination”.
There was mixed response to Morhaime`s tweet. Many people were pleased with his words and were confident that they could bring about forward a positive trendhowever, others believed that it was unlikely that Morhaime wasn`t aware of what was allegedly going on within the business.
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One former Blizzard employee, Terra Field, was quick to note that the company did not punish those responsible for harassment, but in fact they promoted them to higher positions. She claimed that chief technology officer Ben Kilgore had been under an investigation for inappropriate behavior in the workplace from 2016, but was elevated to chief development officer in the year 2017. Mohaime left the company in the year 2018.
Another ex-employee, Cher Scarlett, alleges that she was warned about CC`ing Morhaime in an email after which they were threatened with physical violence. It was like I was not granted any grace, despite the fact that so many men who were in charge were excused from their behavior and were told that sexual harassment wascompletely normal and “not so bad”and that was an acknowledgement given how common it was.”
But, Scarlett did mention that they had had a private conversation with Morhaime after the incident, and she was happy with “his acceptance of responsibility and sympathetic” towards what they had been through and observed. Scarlett said that she believed that Morhaime “was kept in the dark about plenty.”
