Many large companies that work with Activision Blizzard have indicated that they are worried about cases of harassment reported within the group for almost a year. While the boss of Xbox indicated today having “changed the way it does certain things with Activision”, it is LEGO which publicly expresses its reservations.
LEGO joins video game players against harassment at Activision Blizzard
LEGO is therefore added today to the list of companies that say they are worried about what is happening within Activision Blizzard. We are talking here about harassment, rape, suicide, but also degrading remarks, sometimes covered by the group’s management. We have been following the business shaking up the industry for almost a year now, and it is probably not over yet, as there seems to be a long way to go for real changes to be taken.
The colorful brick maker had planned to release a LEGO Overwatch 2 Titan (76980) set in February 2022, but plans eventually changed, and the release was postponed to a later date.
The fan site thebrickfan thus mentions the official response of LEGO regarding this postponement.
We are currently reviewing our partnership with Activision Blizzard regarding concerns about progress being made to address persistent allegations about workplace culture, particularly the treatment of female colleagues and the creation of a diverse and inclusive environment. While we complete this review, we will be suspending the release of the LEGO Overwatch 2 product which was scheduled to go on sale February 1, 2022.
The answer is therefore quite clear, LEGO is suspending the marketing of the product, even if we do not yet know what exactly LEGO is waiting for.
The Activision Blizzard affair started to make more noise in the summer of 2021 as the President of Blizzard was leaving the company. Several employees and ex-employees of the company spoke of many serious cases and a group of employees had asked for the resignation of its CEO, Bobby Kotick, accused of covering some cases.
On the Ubisoft side, a group of employees also denounced last november Ubisoft management’s “empty promises” in the fight against a corporate culture marked by “systemic discrimination, harassment and intimidation”.
Neither Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo have publicly expressed concern about the fate of Ubisoft employees, but the three big players have each condemned the harassment at Activision at the end of 2021. Last year, some advertisers such as Kellogg’s and Coca-Cola had decided to no longer support financially Overwatch League following allegations in the press about Activision Blizzard.