There is new leadership at Blizzard following the announcement that president of the company, J. Allen Brack will be stepping down.
This announcements comes shortly after Brack was mentioned by name in a lawsuit brought by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. In that lawsuit, Brack is accused of treating an employee accused of being too friendly with female employees with cotton gloves when really he should’ve read them the riot act.
It’s unclear why Brack has stepped down although Activision Blizzard president and chief operating officer, Daniel Alegre said he was leaving to “pursue new opportunities”.
In Brack’s absence two “co-leaders of Blizzard” have been announced, but they don’t seem to have been given the same “president” title Brack had.
Anyway, the two people in question are Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra who are names you likely recognise. You might recognise Oneal as the former head of Vicarious Visions or as her senior development leadership role in the Diablo and Overwatch franchises. Meanwhile Ybarra worked in Microsoft’s Xbox division for 7 years before joining Blizzard and overseeing the development of Blizzard’s Battle.net among other projects.
It was great attending the #ActiBlizzWalkout this morning – happy to see so many familiar faces. Together let's build a safe, brighter and fair future for everyone. ????
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) July 28, 2021
“With their many years of industry experience and deep commitment to integrity and inclusivity, I am certain Jen and Mike will lead Blizzard with care, compassion and a dedication to excellence,” wrote Alegra.
This is good news in a situation as grim as this affair has been so far but we are tempering our excitement with the knowledge that there is still an investigation happening as regards the “frat boy” culture at Blizzard as well as the larger Activision Blizzard organisation.
[Source – Blizzard]