Blizzard Entertainment has announced today that BlizzCon 2022 has had a “pause on planning”, with the event originally set to take place in February of next year.
The blog post makes no mention of the ongoing lawsuits taking place at Activision Blizzard, with the company recently attempting to have the lawsuit filed by the state of California halted,the Los Angeles County Court denied the request (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz).
According to the post, the indefinite delaying of BlizzCon has been done “to ensure that it feels as safe, welcoming, and inclusive as possible.”
We’re committed to continual communication with our players,” continues the post, “and we see BlizzCon playing a big role in that going forward.” It adds that game and franchise announcements will still be taking place going forward, despite the lack of a BlizzCon event.
The developer reportedly fired 20 staff in connection with the claims surrounding harassment, sexual assault, and workplace misconduct, but none of these were from the company’s board or senior management team.
Activision Blizzard chief compliance office Frances Townsend said “we call it as we see it. It doesn’t matter what your rank is, what your job is. If you’ve committed some sort of misconduct or you’re a leader who has tolerated a culture that is not consistent with our values, we’re going to take action. The impact on the business is not a consideration.”
Before this Townsend tweeted a The Atlantic article with the caption “the problem with whistleblowing,” and when they received backlash for this they reportedly began blocking Activision Blizzard employees on Twitter as well.
Townsend has since deleted their Twitter account.
If you wish to know more about the ongoing situation at the company, you can do so here.
In other news, most of the perks in New World are broken, according to Reddit users.
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