At the beginning of this month, Blizzard announced the departure of their co-leader Jen Oneal, who had just been in office for three months. Jen Oneal was appointed by the company as one of the co-leaders after Blizzard was sued by the California Department of Employment Equity and Housing, replacing the previous J. Allen Brack.
Oneal is a veteran of Activision for more than 20 years. Activision previously stated that they would donate US$1 million to the International Women’s Game Organization, one of which is a member of the board of directors. Oneal’s own resignation from her new position led to a management reorganization, which delayed the progress of Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, an email from Jen Oneal confirmed that she was paid unequally compared to her male counterparts. Less than a month after Blizzard employees left and demanded fairer pay, Oneal discovered that she earned less than other male co-leaders. Oneal stated that he was symbolized, marginalized and discriminated against before he was about to resign. She also complained in the email that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotic has brought a toxic work culture to the company over the years.
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In a lengthy blog post, Oneal praised employees and colleagues but did not explain why she left. However, an email obtained by The Wall Street Journal showed that Oneal had lost confidence in the ability of Activision’s leadership to reverse its toxic work culture, and wrote that it is clear that the company will never prioritize its employees in the right way.
Oneal’s email also depicts a disturbing scene of her going to a party with CEO Bobby Kotick in 2007, where exposed women dance at a striptease, and a DJ encourages women to join the party. Of people drink so that the men have fun. This email shows that Bobby Kotic has a tendency to abuse female employees, even threatening their lives.
In view of this blockbuster report, Activision Blizzard employees went on strike and demanded Kotic’s resignation. They also called for a third-party evaluation of Activision Blizzard’s compensation policy.