Darryl Long On Changes To Workplace Culture And Practices

Be it Riot Games, Ubisoft, or Activision Blizzard, it’s quite unfortunate that so many game companies have found themselves caught in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons recently. Allegations of sexual misconduct, corporate harassment, discriminatory practices, nepotism, and the like have come pouring in from across the industry, leaving a festering, toxic stain on what was once considered to be a truly vibrant and promising field.

- Kenneth Ang

Of course, that doesn’t mean that game development is now completely devoid of opportunities and potential - it simply means that people have started to associate the industry with such undesirable practices, though their reason for doing so is far from unjustified. However, what’s probably more important than the community calling these offending companies out is what they (the companies) intend to do about it, and whether these changes are actually being put into place.

Case in point, many studios have already promised to investigate these cases and ensure that they would not happen again, and while there are those that have really been putting in the work, some of them, like Ubisoft have actually “rekindled their own inferno”, such as by reassigning former Singapore Studio Head Hugues Ricour as a consultant rather than completely releasing him from its employ. Needless to say, that has resulted in another round of public (and internal) outcry, one that was only made worse by the situation that Activision Blizzard currently finds itself embroiled in.