Activision Blizzard Announces Dates For Diablo II Remastered Beta Dates Amid Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
Activision Blizzard’s Diablo II: Remastered, the remake of the original action RPG classic, is coming to open beta, though the news comes amid legal woes.
Earlier today Activision Blizzard revealed the launch dates for their early access and open beta weekends for the upcoming remake of Blizzard’s seminal Diablo II, a sequel so popular that it was still considered one of the top selling games a decade after its release–and received an update in 2016, a full sixteen years after the game’s release and four full years after the release of Diablo III.
The open beta will be coming late in August with an Early Access Weekend for players who pre-ordered it, long-awaited news for some communities, but the announcement is marred by recent allegations of a toxic ‘frat boy’ culture culminating in a lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The lawsuit brings to light wide-ranging allegations of numerous violations of California employment law, with some examples going back as far as 2010.
“As a product of this “frat boy” culture, women were subjected to numerous sexual comments and advances, groping and unwanted physical touching, and other forms of harassment. A female employee noted that random male employees would approach her on Defendants’ work site and comment on her breasts. Female employees working for the World of Warcraft team noted that male employees and supervisors would hit on them, make derogatory comments about rape, and otherwise engage in demeaning behavior. This behavior was known to supervisors and indeed encouraged by them, including a male supervisor openly encouraging a male subordinate to “buy” a prostitute to cure his bad mood.”
On July 28th, as reported by many media outlets, hundreds of Activision Blizzard employees walked out in protest of the company’s handling of sexual harassment and discrimination charges.
The lawsuit, which alleges a “pervasive culture where female employees were constantly harassed, discriminated against, and underpaid” was filed on July 20th. The lawsuit, which alleges that a male employee nicknamed his BlizzCon 2013 hotel room the “Cosby Suite” is not the only one that Activision Blizzard faces at the moment.
On August 3rd, the venerable software publisher faced a lawsuit from one of their shareholders:
The suit, which seeks class action status, says the negligent oversight of chief executive Bobby Kotick and other corporate leaders caused the company’s share price to lose substantial value.
Since the July 28th walkout, Activkision Blizzard’s share place has dropped repeatedly, leading to the shareholder filling the complaint which also alleges that Activision Blizzard’s unaudited quarterly filings contained statements that are “materially false” in light of the lawsuit:
“As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s common shares, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.”
Despite all this, Diablo II: Resurrected will release August 20th for the Public Open Beta with pre-order early access launching August 13th.
