Blizzard Entertainment employees have begun to organize in the online workplace chat system Slack in order to push for better treatment and pay from their managers. Blizzard Entertainment is a developer known for creating popular online games like Overwatch and World of Warcraft. It is also known for being the frequent subject of controversy and public outcry, most infamously when it banned a professional Hearthstone player for speaking out about his support for an independence movement in Hong Kong.
One thing Blizzard hasn't been known for is good compensation across the board. CEO Bobby Kotick is garnering an unsightly reputation as a ludicrously overpaid executive who compensates his executives far too much, at the significant expense of his lower-level workers. A recent anonymous survey was conducted amongst Blizzard employees to determine just how disproportionate the wage gaps were, and the results were depressing. Most of the workers at the bottom of the chain are making around minimum wage, and anonymous testimonials reveal the tragic lengths some workers have to go to make ends meet, including skipping meals and abandoning plans to have children. Kotick, meanwhile, got a pay package of $40 million last year.
Following the harrowing results of this survey, many Blizzard employees have begun taking action to correct the outrageous inequality in the company. Bloomberg reports that the workers have formed a communication channel on Slack with over 870 members to discuss the changes they intend to demand from their employers. These changes include equal pay and fair promotions, as well as a livable wage for QA teams and members of the customer service department. People involved in the initiative expect this list to be finalized and presented to management by the end of the week.
This effort is a truly significant development in the games industry, and not just because it represents a coordinated effort to improve working conditions. There are currently no major video game companies in the United States that are unionized, which is a significant issue for workers' rights. If these Blizzard employees are successful, this could be a big first step toward unionizing the games industry, which would have major economic impacts. At the very least, unionizing major development teams would help keep other developers from repeating Blizzard's worst habits.
The video game industry exists primarily to deliver fun and engaging experiences to players around the world. But it's vital to remember how much effort and time goes into each and every video game that hits the shelves. Video game development is a very difficult job, and the people involved in it deserve fair treatment just like everyone else. The working conditions reported by Blizzard Entertainment employees are awful and unjustified, and they should never be replicated. These employees' actions can, and should, create drastic change for the better.
Source: Bloomberg, Jason Schreier/Twitter