Activision-Blizzard has announced it is not pursuing an appeal in the ‘Call of Duty’ lawsuit filed by former employees. The company says this will allow them to focus on other projects, while they are also planning their next major Call of Duty title for 2020.
Activision-Blizzard has addressed the Call of Duty mess, and developers have reported “radio silence.”. Read more in detail here: blizzard activision.
Raven Software, developer of several Call of Duty titles including COD: Warzone, is still on strike due to a sudden bout of firing of QA staff ahead of the holidays. As one might suspect, this is putting a damper on fixes and updates to some of the series’ most recent titles, which brought forth a message from the COD Twitter account that promises the devs “hear [players], and [the developers] feel [player] frustrations” and that fixes for Vanguard, Warzone, and Modern Warfare are in the works, followed by successive messages regarding released fixes and known issues for Warzone and Vanguard.
This promise of hearing complaints and feeling frustrations was used to draw attention to the continuing plight of QA devs, as Kate Anderson, a QA tester for Blizzard, clapped back at the message. “Striking employees have received countless similar emails also saying ‘we hear you, and we feel your frustrations’ yet leadership refuses to communicate directly with us,” Anderson wrote, “The state of COD games right now is a direct result of their inability to lead responsibly.”
Anderson’s account of ActiBlizz leadership’s failure to communicate is consistent with QA developers’ comments to Inverse, who all describe “radio silence” from the studio even while the strike continues. “The corporation continues to assert publicly that it wishes to provide a transparent channel of communication between management and workers while aggressively contradicting its promises of openness behind closed doors.” “ABK has no intention of changing its poisonous habits and improving its workplace culture anytime soon,” one anonymous employee remarked. Readers will notice that these testimonies clearly contradict ActiBlizz’s assertion that it contacted Raven workers.
Striking staff have received dozens of identical letters, all of which state “we hear you, and we understand your grievances,” yet leadership refuses to contact with us directly. The current status of COD games is directly related to their incapacity to lead properly. https://t.co/loHJHjjgza
— Kate Anderson💙#ABetterABK💙 (@RebelComicNerd) January 15, 2022
Due to a lengthy run of controversies in the MMO and gaming field over the past several years, including the Blitzchung boycott, huge layoffs, labor issues, and executive pay controversy, Activision-Blizzard is regarded a problematic corporation in the MMO and gaming industry. The company was sued by the state of California last summer for fostering a work environment that was riddled with sexual harassment and discrimination, and the company’s disastrous response has only added to Blizzard’s ongoing pipeline issues and the widespread perception that its online games are on the decline. Employees are on strike and demanding Bobby Kotick’s resignation, prompting many state and federal organizations to investigate the corporation.
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