Call Of Duty's Treyarch Releases Statement On Sexual Harassment
2021 offered some of the very worst revelations of the video game industries in recent years. Beginning with the huge lawsuit made against Activision Blizzard for a "frat-boy culture" and a series of allegations of sexual harassment and assault, accusations started to crop up in every corner of the industry - reaching from Sledgehammer Games to Ubisoft and beyond.
It has become abundantly clear that grim workplace conduct, misogyny, and racism still aren't expelled from the industry... even in 2021. A lot of work needs to be done, and now Treyarch, (a company under the umbrella of Activision Blizzard), has made an end-of-year statement in an attempt to iron out its stance on the events of the last year.
How Does Treyarch's Statement Stand Against Sexism And Harassment?
Click to enlargeTreyarch is the team behind the Black Ops series of Call of Duty games and Vanguard's Zombies, has come out with a statement on Twitter to commemorate the arrival of a new year. Those inside are quite upfront about their feelings on the events of the past year.
"Our goal as a studio is to make awesome games for the world to enjoy," reads the post on the company's official Twitter account, which according to staff member Miranda Due, was written and published by the women of Treyarch. "Having the privilege to pursue that endeavour is made possible because of Treyarch's people: we are a studio comprised of smart, talented, world-class creative professionals who seek to perform at our best.
"Our culture has no room for sexism, harassment, racism, bigotry, discrimination, or bullying. As we move forward, providing a safe, diverse, inclusive working environment so that all may thrive will be our highest priority."
The Gaming Industry Reacts To Treyarch's Statement
Though the company turned off replies for the post, they've received some nice messages from the wider gaming community in the post's quote retweets. "We'd like to thank Treyarch for stepping up and beginning to have this conversation", says the Activision / Blizzard / King Workers Alliance." Admitting that things haven't been perfect is hard, but it's even harder to take a stance against it."
"'Be better' is why I have worked here for 15 years," says David Vonderhaar - the creative lead on the Black Ops series' Zombies modes says. "This is a studio made of people who strive every day to be better."
It's nice to see a company under Activision Blizzard speak out against such misconduct, despite Sledgehammer Games doing the same before being accused of some of the very same misconduct.
Still, this is a great step for the company - and we hope that it's the start of a new wave of game developers speaking out against the industry's ills. In a franchise that is often called out for a toxic community, at least the devs are standing by the victims.