Blizzard Lead Outlines Plan to Rebuild Trust With Players and Employees

gamerant.com:

Blizzard has been a headline in the news for the better part of a year now, from the ongoing sexual assault and discrimination lawsuits to its recent takeover by Microsoft. In light of the recent acquisition, Head of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Ybarra released a progress report on what it has been doing to foster a better culture for its employees, and outlined a plan for how he planned to rebuild its reputation.

The letter itself reads as a New Year's resolution of sorts, admitting to the stumbles in the past, and committing to change in the future. It then goes on to detail its progress towards fixing Blizzard's toxic culture and promise continued change and communication.

Blizzard Co-Lead Takes Part in World of Warcraft Raid Boost Run

“Our top priority—now and into the future—is the work we are doing to rebuild your trust in Blizzard.”

The bulk of the letter goes into detail about the initial actions it has taken towards this commitment. Ybarra outlines new full-time leadership positions with the purpose of cultural improvement, including a Culture leader, a Human Resources organizer, and a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion leader, with promises to staff their respective teams swiftly and sensitively. It has tripled the size of its compliance teams, and implemented an upward feedback program so employees can more easily evaluate their management without fear of retribution. Lastly, Ybarra promised he and the other Blizzard executives would see their compensation change to reflect the success of their inclusivity initiatives.

Ybarra left Microsoft to join Blizzard in 2019, though he will technically be returning to Microsoft once its acquisition of Blizzard finalizes next year. He was co-lead of Blizzard until recently, when