Today, Activision Blizzard employees past and present are trying to hold the company accountable, many of which sharing their stories and risking their careers in the process. Activision Blizzard is a crowning example, one already established by League developer Riot Games, which has faced its own slew of workplace sexual harassment and abuse allegations. Just because a game has great female characters does not necessarily mean its workplace treats women fairly. The initial California lawsuit states that Activision Blizzard fosters a “pervasive frat boy workplace culture.” In one of many examples, male employees would regularly “drink copious amounts of alcohol” and “crawl their way through various cubicles in the office,” targeting women as they worked. One lawsuit was filed as recently as March 2022. This culminated in a widely reported lawsuit filed by California against the developer in July 2021, along with a slew of follow-up suits over labor practices and sexual harassment at the company. Activision Blizzard, the company behind the Overwatch franchise, has been embattled in incredibly egregious allegations of workplace sexual harassment and retaliation. However, it’s hard to get too excited over Overwatch 2. Overwatch 2, which premiered its PvP beta in late April, promises to build off this roster, with the game’s first Black female hero officially entering the battlefield: former Overwatch captain Sojourn. And like both League and Dota, its playable characters stole the show with their fantastic character designs and lovable, distinct personalities.Įarly on, Overwatch received plenty of love for one of its most memorable features: Its robust cast of female characters. Easy to learn but difficult to master, Overwatch took off overnight. Here was a shooter that combined class-based multiplayer gameplay with the kind of unique, specialty heroes seen in online battle arenas like Dota 2 and League of Legends. Hero shooters are a dime a dozen these days, but when Blizzard launched Overwatch back in 2016, it was revolutionary for its time.