Workers and former workers at the various substudios at Activision-Blizzard have been calling it out as an unpleasant workplace for a while now since the whole scandal with the company began, and Blizzard was not spared (just remember how Brian Birmingham was treated last year). But now we’ve got even more evidence that company has not improved on a systemic level over the past few years after all as a new Twitter thread from former Overwatch 2 lead VFX artist Chris Sayers opens up about the experience he had working at the company, and it all started when he got a promotion after working at Blizzard for about six months.
Sayers explains that he was offered a promotion with concurrent pay raise along with his increased responsibilities, but only got the latter without the former and was then gaslit about what he had agreed to; he was strung along in this situation for months as Blizzard squeezed the work of multiple people out of him for less pay than his reports (who weren’t being treated by the company much better than he was, as his story explains it). Eventually, when Blizzard refused to honor its deal, he quit, only to see Blizzard force him into unemployment for three months because of a non-compete clause in his contract.
The whole story works out to be somewhat heartbreaking for Sayers, but it does paint a pretty clear picture of the way that management still approaches its employees that may be illuminating in light of supposed changes.
so, enough time has passed now for me to talk about why i decided to leave Blizzard. a mixed year with great teammates, but a management that mistreated, lied to me, gaslit me, gave me a fake promotion, and HR that refused to help.
buckle up friendos. 💪
— Chris Sayers (He/Him) (@NotSoLittleC) February 8, 2024
