Earlier today, it was announced that Mike Ybarra and Jen Oneal would be taking over as Blizzard co-heads from former president J Allen Brack amidst an ongoing lawsuit alleging harassment and toxic work culture filed by the state of California. In an earnings call today, Oneal was asked to comment on the current situation at Blizzard in response to an investor question and took the opportunity to focus on game pipelines and employee passion.
During the call's Q&A portion, one investor addressed the following to Ybarra and Oneal (Ybarra did not respond or comment during the course of the call):
"I'm sure morale is low, I'm just curious how Mike and Jen plan to rekindle the pride that Blizzard has been known for and rebuild that morale, but also at the same time as you listen to everyone's stories and experiences and make the necessary changes, how does that not affect production going forward?"
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Oneal, who joined Blizzard in January of this year following her tenure as head of Activision-owned Vicarious Visions, responded as follows:
"First off, there's nothing more important to me than our people, and I know Mike Ybarra who is partnering with me to lead Blizzard feels exactly the same. Since I joined the studio at the beginning of the year, I've had the privilege of working closer with the Diablo and Overwatch teams. I'm seeing great progress on Overwatch 2 and the multiple games in the Diablo universe. I am constantly inspired by the talented teams, their creative vision, their commitment to putting gameplay first.
"Our people are passionate about our games. They understand our players. And in many cases, they have come from the player community themselves and naturally are driven to serve them. As Bobby and Daniel have mentioned, we are expanding these teams. We're doubling down on our development recruiting as we expand the scope and vision of our franchises.
"When we come together, we make some of the best games in the industry, and we're now seeing that energy applied to our culture, which is equally important. There's a lot of work ahead of us but the passion and productivity are already here, and when our people feel safe and supported, the rest is going to take care of itself."
Blizzard appears to be offering updates on upcoming titles as a way to highlight the employees' productivity in the fallout of the lawsuit.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/08/03/blizzard-president-j-allen-brack-steps-down-ign-news"]Her statement was followed up by a similarly non-specific reply from Blizzard co-founder and current senior VP Allen Adham, who was also on the call:
"The passion that our developers have for innovation and creativity is what makes Blizzard great. It's why we've been able to make so many great games for 30 years now, and this has always been the vision since the very beginning. I'm excited about our future, about the things we're creating together, about building a new culture and renewing that spirit. We're tight-lipped about it but our new game pipeline has been in development for many years and is greater than it's ever been, across our core franchises and mobile, new IP and new genres. I'm looking forward to our teams launching their already-announced new games in the not-too-distant future, and in due course announcing a few new ones that you have yet to hear about."
This particular question and subsequent responses came alongside only one other shareholder question about the ongoing situation at the company, which has since grown to include multiple further reports of harassment, sexism, unequal pay, and a "frat boy" work culture.
Last week, employees staged a walkout with demands for leadership to "improve conditions for employees at the company, especially women, and in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups," and have since formed a coalition rejecting the company's selection of a law firm to investigate the matter.
The earnings statements today did acknowledge the lawsuit on multiple occasions, though the statements included were largely a reiteration of Bobby Kotick's letter to employees from last week. These came alongside reiterations from multiple leadership team members of a company outlook noting that if Activision-Blizzard continues to experience "prolonged periods of adverse publicity, significantly reduced productivity or other negative consequences relating to this matter, our business likely would be adversely impacted."
[poilib element="accentDivider"]Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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