TheQuartering [7/23/2021]
Blizzard is taking a lot of hits.
The studio behind Halo and now Destinyissued a statement on Twitter yesterday, addressing the allegations of widespread sexual harrasssment and discrimination alleged in a new lawsuit brought by California regulators against Activision Blizzard. “We have a responsibility to acknowledge, reflect, and do what we can to push back on a persistent culture of harassment, abuse, and inequality that exists in our industry,” the company wrote.
Bungie issued the statement on Twitter but also linked to and publicized it on its weekly blog post about the state of Destiny 2. While it didn’t directly name Activision Blizzard, the former business partner did emphasize that it believes victims when they come forward and, “is committed to doing everything in our power to combat systemic harassment, sexism, abuse, and inequality.”
Here’s the full statement:
Bungie is built on empowering our people no matter who they are, where they are from, or how they identify.
We have a responsibility to acknowledge, reflect, and do what we can to push back on a persistent culture of harassment, abuse, and inequality that exists in our industry.
It’s our responsibility to ensure this type of behavior is not tolerated at Bungie at any level, and that we never excuse it or sweep it under the rug.
While the accounts in this week’s news are difficult to read, we hope they will lead to justice, awareness, and accountability.
We have a zero-tolerance policy at Bungie for environments that support this toxic culture, and we are committed to rooting them out to defend those who are at risk.
Women, POC, and underrepresented communities have nothing to gain by reliving their trauma. We believe them when they come forward with reports of abuse or harassment.
We don’t pretend that Bungie is perfect and that no one has experienced harassment while working here, but we will not tolerate it and will confront it head on. And we will continue to do the work every day to be better.
Our goal is to continue to improve the experience for everyone working at Bungie and do our part to make the gaming industry as a whole to be more welcoming and inclusive.