Work on WoW Suspended Amid Harassment Lawsuit and Community Protests
The controversy over the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard continues. Some employees are not happy with the company's policy, which is expected to result in long delays in work on World of Warcraft.
- The lawsuit against Activison Blizzard appears to have negatively affected the work in the company;
- The management's behavior is criticized by employees, and work on World of Warcraft was said to have "almost completely stopped".
Since last week, a stink has been dragging behind Activision Blizzard over a lawsuit brought by the state of California against the company for sexual harassment, mobbing, and discrimination alleged to be the order of the day among Blizzard's staff. And while Blizzard Entertainment's CEO J. Allen Brack has expressed concern over the current situation and shown sympathy for the victims of the aforementioned practices, the company's official stance is to go into denial and seems to be saying: "everything is ok and we don't know what's their problem". It turns out that the lawsuit has a negative effect not only on Activision Blizzard's image, but also the work of the developers. For the last few days, work on World of Warcraft had come almost to a standstill.
This is the picture of the situation outlined by Jeff Hamilton - one of the designers working on WoW. On Twitter Blizzard's employee referred to the recent events happening in the company.
This strong position is also related to what is most important for the players - the game itself. And according to Hamilton, the actions of "the top" very negatively affect the progress of work on World of Warcraft. And although he admits that he has not come across any examples of behavior of which the company is accused, he realizes that his experience "is not universal" and therefore each such case should be considered with due seriousness and care. The clock is ticking, and the clouds looming over Actvision Blizzard seem to be getting darker and more threatening. It's impossible to have the whole picture before the final verdict of the court, but more facts coming out seem to contradict the company's official version. In addition, if the work delays continue, new content for WoW: Shadowlands, for example, is not likely to be released anytime soon.
