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Blizzard investigating culture concerns at Proletariat

Blizzard investigating culture concerns at Proletariat

World of Warcraft maker Blizzard has said that it is looking into claims of misconduct at its Proletariat studio.

In a statement to GI.biz, the company said that it was investigating the concerns, which were raised by senior graphics engineer Benny Wilson on Twitter. They claimed that they had seen open disrespect towards other members of staff.

"I've seen seniors yelling at young employees, women crying in meetings, 'fat lady' jokes," Wilson wrote.

"White men have doubted my experiences with racism, and they disagree with me when I say the studio isn't inclusive.

"This all happens in the open. Everyone sees it.

Women have told me that they’ve been spoken over in meetings, yelled at, and shut down while managers watch. I’ve reported all this several times to HR and my manager over the years. Proletariat hasn’t progressed at all since I joined in 2019." 

In response, a Blizzard spokesperson said that the company is looking into these allegations.

"We're aware of these concerns and are looking into them," they said. "We want to have an inclusive workplace culture for all our employees and we take these concerns very seriously."

This follows an effort to form a union at Proletariat, which fell apart at the end of January


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PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.