On Wednesday, July 28, Blizzard employees responded to a statement released by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick on July 27. Kotick’s statement, in which he called the response to the company’s lawsuit “tone deaf” came after the news of Blizzard employees staging a walkout in Irvine went public on Tuesday.

By Wednesday morning, Blizzard employees released a statement in response to the CEO’s statement, adding that Kotick’s response fails to address core issues of equality in the workplace, including greater pay transparency.

A document provided to Irvine Weekly through a confidential source at Blizzard underscores the previous demands made by employees in an open letter, which was signed by thousands of employees at the video game publisher:

“While we are pleased to see that our collective voices – including an open letter with thousands of signatures from current employees – have convinced leadership to change the tone of their communications, this response fails to address critical elements at the heart of employee concerns.

Activision Blizzard’s response did not address the following:

– The end of forced arbitration for all employees.

– Worker participation in oversight of hiring and promotion policies.

– The need for greater pay transparency to ensure equality.

– Employee selection of a third party to audit HR and other company processes.

Today’s walkout will demonstrate that this is not a one-time event that our leaders can ignore. We will not return to silence; we will not be placated by the same processes that led us to this point.

This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all
employees, especially women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.

We expect a prompt response and a commitment to action from leadership on the points enumerated above, and look forward to maintaining a constructive dialogue on how to build a better Activision Blizzard for all employees.

Today, we stand up for change. Tomorrow and beyond, we will be the change.”

Blizzard employees are set to stage a walkout in Irvine at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 28. However, the company has also encouraged supporters to use the hashtag #ActiBlizzWalkout with a blue heart emoji on social media, and participate virtually.

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