Diablo 4 director among trio of men no longer at Blizzard

Three high-profile Blizzard employees are no longer part of the company, Activision Blizzard has today confirmed.

Luis Barriga and Jesse McCree, Diablo 4's game director and lead designer, as well as World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft, are all reported by Kotaku to have been let go.

Activision Blizzard has not given specific reasons for the departures, but noted in a statement it had assigned "new leaders" where appropriate and would "move forward to ensure a safe, productive work environment for all".

McCree and LeCraft reportedly both feature in the 2013 group photo taken within the BlizzCon "Cosby Suite", where a group of men can be seen on a bed posing with a giant picture of disgraced US comedian Bill Cosby.

The hotel room is alleged to have been part of the company's so-called "frat-boy" culture, and alleged screenshots of a group chat bearing the "BlizzCon Cosby" name include various misogynistic remarks by Blizzard staff members including former World of Warcraft senior creative director Alex Afrasiabi, who was fired last summer.

Blizzard has scrubbed various in-game references to Afrasiabi from World of Warcraft - something which fans have already brought up again today with the departure of McCree, the namesake of Overwatch's popular cowboy character.

The departures come just a day after a high-profile Activision Blizzard shareholder hit out at the company's "inadequate" response to its ongoing discrimination lawsuit.

Last week it was revealed under-fire Activision Blizzard chief compliance officer Frances Townsend had stepped down from the company's women's network after her response to the lawsuit was heavily criticised. Townsend remains at Activision Blizzard as chief compliance officer.