Activision Blizzard Sued By California Over ‘Frat Boy’ Culture

[Malithar]

If OWL does go bottom up, wonder if team owners will throw another lawsuit. I recall reading something like there was a $50 million buy in, then some even went as far as building stadiums and stuff yeah?

[Corrderio]

Sounds about right. I know making a team was ungodly expensive and for players to even be considered they had to be Master rank at minimum.

[Serra]

Ehh.. I'm pretty sure Overwatch was designed with e-sports in mind from early on. I don't think you can blame OWL for the decline in quality and support (I'd argue that OW2 has been more responsible for those problems).

Yeah, there was a huge buy in to start the teams. I imagine one of the things that might save OWL is that Blizzard built it more based on traditional sports leagues rather than how e-sports have developed in the past. This is definitely a step back for its profitability, but if OWL does survive, it might also protect Blizzard from a lawsuit from owners since they wouldn't want another step back. But yeah, if the league collapses, I imagine you'll have a bunch of billionaires who are going to go after Blizzard for damages.

[Salodin]

Mannnn I wonder how this affects OW2 haha...

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[Lucavi]

Senior Blizzard execs Mike Morhaime, founder Frank Pearce and former Prez J. Allen Brack all married women in less senior roles at the company.

But of course, there were absolutely no power dynamic imbalances at Blizz. Nope. None at all.

[Corrderio]

Ehh.. I'm pretty sure Overwatch was designed with e-sports in mind from early on. I don't think you can blame OWL for the decline in quality and support (I'd argue that OW2 has been more responsible for those problems).

Yeah, there was a huge buy in to start the teams. I imagine one of the things that might save OWL is that Blizzard built it more based on traditional sports leagues rather than how e-sports have developed in the past. This is definitely a step back for its profitability, but if OWL does survive, it might also protect Blizzard from a lawsuit from owners since they wouldn't want another step back. But yeah, if the league collapses, I imagine you'll have a bunch of billionaires who are going to go after Blizzard for damages.

I'd have to find it but I'm almost sure there was an interview before the game out saying this wasn't going to be an E-Sports game.

And maybe. It just feels like after they announced the league a majority of the news seemed to be about the league while the game's development just felt like it moving along more and more slowly after each update.

[Qalbert]

https://twitter.com/ethangach/status...64560501714950

Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft were let go from Blizzard on Wednesday, two sources with knowledge of the move told Kotaku.

The news was delivered to development teams today but has not yet been officially announced. A source confirmed to Kotaku that the three developers’ names are no longer visible in Blizzard’s internal directory or Slack. Activision Blizzard did not immediately return a request for comment.

One source who learned of the news said Activision Blizzard did not give a reason for the departures, but they come as the company reckons with a California lawsuit alleging widespread sexual harassment and discrimination at the Overwatch and Call of Duty publisher.

Jesse McCree, the namesake for Overwatch’s beloved cowboy fighter and most recently a designer on Diablo 4, was one of several current and former Blizzard developers who appeared in an image of a BlizzCon 2013 “Cosby Suite” obtained by Kotaku. The suite contained booze and a giant portrait of Bill Cosby and reportedly belonged to World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi.

[arus2001]

Yeah, I'd probably expect a minimum of a quarter for delaying D4 at this point. However, there's also that part of me that hopes a change in director might fix some of the issues I've been observing in their sneak peeks.

[Odesseiron]

Honestly, if Activision dissolved Blizzard and re-branded/absorbed members to other studios while keeping the brands alive...I wouldn't be completely shocked.

[Serra]

Overwatch League casters Brennon ‘Bren’ Hook and Josh ‘Sideshow’ Wilkinson went out of their way to avoid referring to the hero by name during matches on the first weekend of August.

Instead, they would refer to the DPS hero as “the cowboy,” the player’s name or reference the character’s peacekeeper revolver weapon instead.

https://www.dexerto.com/overwatch/ov...wsuit-1624154/

[Lucavi]

Bren and Sideshow are the best commenting duo the game has, so if they're going that rough, expect others to follow.

...You know, for however longer the OWL lasts.

[Corrderio]

WTF is up with the McCree hate? The noose spray they removed over a year ago?

[Cantih]

McCree is named for a Blizz Dev. Said dev is one of the Cosby crew.

[6souls]

WTF is up with the McCree hate? The noose spray they removed over a year ago?

McCree is named for a Blizz Dev. Said dev is one of the Cosby crew.

[Corrderio]

Ah that'd explain it

[Lucavi]

Yeah. That'd do it.

See you, Cowboy.

[Lokus]

Kinda dumb to be honest. McCree the OW character is not McCree the dev. Punishing the child for the sins of the father so to speak.

[Corrderio]

I'm more surprised Blizzard hasn't tried to fire/replace them yet. Then again I'm sure they want to keep their heads buried in the sand as long as they can.

Edit: They're already fired/left the company. Old news by a day or so. Only one is left employed at the company, but he's been on leave for a week.

[Lucavi]

Those Alex NPCs in WoW never needed to go, either. They were just town guards and quest NPCs, not women-abusers. Put them back right now, Blizz.

[Melena]

Kinda dumb to be honest. McCree the OW character is not McCree the dev. Punishing the child for the sins of the father so to speak.

Except McCree the overwatch character was quite literally named after the dev as he was one of the head guys on overwatch

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