The trouble with game development

The Activision Blizzard harassment and discrimination lawsuit has repercussions for the industry as a whole

DEVELOPING PROBLEM

One of the many trains of thought prompted by these reports is why such toxic workplaces might be endemic to the videogame industry in particular. The DFEH lawsuit offers one potential reason, calling it a “male-dominated industry”. HR specialist Caroline Stokes points to the pressures that most studios are operating under, both financially and in terms of backlash if a game is received poorly. Another problem, she notes, involves the pedestals on which notable developers can be placed. This contributes to “a sense of superiority”, which means attempted remedies can be viewed as “a pain in the neck that’s getting in the way of them programming or doing their art or, you know, doing things how they used to be able to.”

By now, you’re probably familiar with at least the broad strokes of the lawsuit brought against Activision Blizzard by the California Department Of Fair Employment And Housing. Since it was filed in July, its allegations have inspired a lot of discussion around “frat boy” workplace culture”, with “cube crawls” seeing male employees drinking “copious amounts of alcohol” and wandering between office cubicles, leading to “inappropriate behaviour toward female employees.”

The full complaint makes for grim reading. The result of a two-year investigation by the DFEH, it describes “a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women”, spanning everything from unequal pay and opportunities for promotion to rape jokes and unsolicited comments about the bodies of female employees.