We publish a lot about the gaming industry - that’s kind of our thing. Today, we’ll probably have news on game delays, game updates, and game bugs. We’ll find some cool thing some fan made and share it with you. We’ll chat about The Game Awards. It’ll all be a great big laugh, a bunch of grown ups talking about fun toys. Yet it all disguises the fact the games industry is truly fucking repellent.
News broke yesterday that Bobby Kotick… well, where do I even start? He not only allegedly knew about the sexual abuse accusations at Activision Blizzard and allegedly hid them from everyone, he also allegedly wrote the immediate reaction to the scandal that was ostensibly emailed out in Fran Townsend’s name. Oh, and he threatened to have a woman killed. We don’t even need an ‘allegedly’ for that one - a voicemail recording exists and Kotick doesn’t deny it. He threatened to have a member of his staff killed and he still has a job. The games industry is truly fucking repellent.
We’ve covered the Activision Blizzard abuse accusations extensively, so much so that every single one of these words links to a new story. Kotick oversaw all of this, and apparently knew the scope of it well before the story broke. He even brought in Jen Oneal in an attempt to make the company seem more diverse, only to pay her less than her male counterpart. At the time of writing, Kotick is still in his position. Activision Blizzard immediately came out swinging for him. Even if he leaves, it’s disgusting that there needed to be a debate about it - and it’ll probably be because he lied to the board, rather than any of the abuse he oversaw. The games industry is truly fucking repellent.
We at TheGamer have elected to boycott coverage of Activision Blizzard games until we see meaningful, structural changes. This would not mean simply the removal of Kotick, but it feels impossible for these changes to happen while Kotick is there.
We have continued to cover any events related to the sexual abuse scandals and related lawsuits, and have occasionally covered news related to Activision Blizzard if we felt it served our readers - for example, when Call of Duty: Vanguard displayed the Quran on the floor, we felt that warranted coverage. But we’re all too aware that games media acts as an uncritical hype machine far too often - it’s just part of what the job is now, and sometimes it serves our readers to simply celebrate a thing we enjoy. The games industry is truly fucking repellent, so you have to take the wins where you can sometimes.
Not every site has opted to boycott - in fact, most haven’t. There’s the argument that it doesn’t serve the reader (we feel, by still covering the abuse allegations, that it does), as well as the idea it hurts hard working developers, but that’s a little too close to admitting we exist as nothing more than advertisements for games. Plus, devs aren’t paid by the copy, and we’re of the radical opinion that doing something might be better than doing nothing.
It’s not just Activision Blizzard. It’s the whole games industry that’s truly fucking repellent. Ubisoft has faced similar allegations, as has Riot Games. I have no doubts that most if not all major studios have a history of this, perhaps in some cases ongoing, with the levels of abuse being kept from the public.
In terms of our boycott, we felt that Activision Blizzard’s response, which now seems to have come from Kotick, warranted this reaction. Where other studios seemed contrite and guilty (feigned or not), Activision Blizzard opted for gaslighting and denial. Even in its most recent defence of Kotick after he threatened to have someone killed, Activision Blizzard used the statement as little more than a sales pitch. Activision Blizzard is our line in the sand, but make no mistake - we’re well aware the whole games industry is truly fucking repellent.
It’s not just studios either - GamerGate didn’t happen because some billionaire investor abused his power to prey on young women. I’ve met some fantastic people in the games industry, but the fanbase as a whole is marred by toxicity. “You wouldn’t survive a MW2 lobby,” has never made any sense to me, because a) I fucking did and b) what do you think has changed?
There are more critics these days who write about gender, sexuality, and race in gaming, and as gaming has grown more diverse we have gained more readers interested in introspective topics, but the core base remains. Racism, sexism, and homophobia is still rampant in the industry. The games industry is truly fucking repellent.
I get death threats or hate messages every week, and I know people who get way more. I’m not even talking about angry Facebook comments telling me my opinion is bad - I mean DMs or emails sent directly to me telling me to kill myself. Usually because I said I thought Ghost of Tsushima was only okay. They don’t really bother me, but when I see so many young, talented, diverse voices at risk of being pushed out of the industry for good because of them, I can’t help but feel the games industry is truly fucking repellent.
This is where I end on a positive, right? A redemptive silver lining about why I keep on going. Why any of us should keep on going. I'm afraid I don’t have one. I still love my job, and I know despite everything, there are some fantastic people working hard to make gaming a better place for everyone. TheGamer has grown massively in the nine months I’ve been here, and in an industry still reluctant to embrace diversity at a top level, it’s cool that we have a trans editor-in-chief and so many women in lead roles.
I like us. I like my job. I like games. But it doesn’t change the fact the games industry is truly fucking repellent. After the last couple of days, someone needed to say it. But sooner rather than later, we need to stop agreeing and start changing it.