Fans of World of Warcraft decided to draw attention to the accusations against Activision Blizzard related to discrimination against women and harassment at work. To do this, they staged a protest right in the game and demanded that all references to the former creative director be removed from it.The online action was organized by the guild Fence Macabre, according to the publication Polygon.
At the appointed time, the players gathered in the city of Oribos and staged a sit-in protest in order to draw attention to the problem inside Activision Blizzard.
In particular, disgruntled users mention the former creative director of World of Warcraft Alex Afrasiabi (Alex Afrasiabi). The new lawsuit refers to numerous cases of harassment on his part. He repeatedly molested female employees, kissed them and offered to marry him.
Made my way over to this, making a personal post for once to stand out against the disgusting actions of Activison/Blizzard#Warcraft I encourage other people who love this game and respect the victims to do the same, if they can. https://t.co/HU9BDzJMDc pic.twitter.com/b9Oj35H43x
— Boyd Bear (@Meawbear) July 22, 2021Afrasiabi got a job at Blizzard in 2004 and started as a World of Warcraft quest designer.
He was responsible for many well-known tasks in the game, and in 2014 he was appointed creative director of the Warlords of Draenor add-on. Last year, Afrasiabi left the company without making any public statements about it.
There are quite a few characters and items left in World of Warcraft named after a former employee. Among them are Field Marshal Afrasiabi, Fras Siabi, Lord Afrasastraz, as well as various weapons and other in—game objects.
Now on the Blizzard forums, many players express their dissatisfaction and demand to remove all mentions of Afrasiabi from the game. Some users admit that they cannot play WoW, knowing about the actions of the former creative director. Others note that Afrasiabi’s legacy spoils the reputation and name of the project.
The Fence Macabre Guild also used the protest action to organize a fundraiser for the Black Girls CODE charity. She teaches programming and digital technologies to girls aged 7 to 17 years. At the moment, over $ 8.5 thousand has already been collected.
The lawsuit against Activision Blizzard became known yesterday. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing accused the company of discrimination against employees and harassment. Activision Blizzard itself does not agree with the claims and claims that now the company has a completely different working environment.
Shortly after the publication of the lawsuit, Jason Schreier published a large investigation into the development of Warcraft III: Reforged. He spoke in detail about the cut budgets, pressure on developers from Activision and the incompetence of some members of the management.