Fresh off a sexual harassment scandal, Activision Blizzard has decided to stave off criticism by embracing social justice and hiring quotas.
The video game company has a new chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer whose job will be to pander to left-wing media and try to erase the stain of the sexual harassment lawsuits against the company, including another one filed just last month. Kristen Hines, who will be taking the new role as the head of the company’s diversity bureaucracy, wants to increase the number of women and “nonbinary” employees by 50%.
“Activision Blizzard has ambitious goals to become the most welcoming and inclusive company in the gaming industry,” CEO Bobby Kotick said. Hines said in a statement that the company will now be building a workplace “that values transparency, equity, and inclusivity.” In other words: Please stop with the bad publicity. We’re woke now.
Under Hines, the company will also be ensuring that “diverse and inclusive perspectives are included in game design, including storylines, character development, gameplay, and community interaction.” As everyone knows, social justice is the real secret ingredient to a good video game. Maybe the next Call of Duty game will have players study critical race theory, just like the U.S. military.
Last month, the company agreed to an $18 million settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over sexual harassment and discrimination allegations. The Santa Monica-based company is also facing a lawsuit from the state of California, though Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has been accused of interfering with the case by the assistant chief counsel of the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Social justice has become the refuge for major companies in the United States looking to escape scandals or simply win some goodwill from our liberal culture or liberal legacy media. This is especially true in the entertainment industry, and Activision Blizzard had tried to pander to racially obsessed liberals. With the sexual harassment and discrimination allegations, the company now has to please feminists and whoever it is who cares about virtue signaling on behalf of nonbinary people.
The question is if game players will mind pausing the action to check their pronouns.
