150 Activision Blizzard staff stage walkout following bombshell report
As group demands Bobby Kotick's removal.
Activision Blizzard staff have staged a new walkout in response to last night's damning Wall St Journal report which detailed numerous alleged instances of sexual assault and harassment at the company - and suggested its boss Bobby Kotick had failed to fully act upon them.
Around 150 employees gathered outside the Blizzard campus in Irvine, California, after a call from the ABetterABK group which asked workers to down tools. A smaller protest was held at Blizzard's QA office in Minnesota, while others joined in remotely, ceasing work elsewhere.
"We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy," ABetterABK wrote on Twitter, shortly after the publication of the Wall St Journal article. "We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source. We are staging a Walkout today. We welcome you to join us."
Last night, a statement from Activision in response to the report said the company's board was standing by its CEO and remained "confident" in him. Kotick has made no suggestion of resigning himself.
"We are fully committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and rewarding environment for all of our employees around the world," Activision told Washington Post in response to the walkout. "We support their right to express their opinions and concerns in a safe and respectful manner, without fear of retaliation."