I’ve thought long and hard about this, and this is not something I take lightly, but I think it’s the right call.
For those who don’t know, the state of California recently filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard due to severe sexual harassment issues. I also recently found out that Ubisoft has been going through the same thing. Normally I would cautiously play the games anyway, but then these companies made such terrible responses that now it appears that they don’t want to change. That’s a big problem for me.
I feel like my dollar is my vote. When I buy a game, I’m also supporting that company and keeping it alive. The same goes if I review a game made by them. I don’t feel comfortable associating with these kinds of companies. It’s one thing to have shady business practices. No one’s hands are clean there, unfortunately. I feel perfectly fine criticizing a publisher’s decisions while still buying, playing, and reviewing their games. But I feel like both Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard have crossed a line.
Does this mean I want to “cancel” them? No. I believe people can change. In fact, once they take action and fix the problem, I’ll start covering their games again. But this kind of stuff can’t be ignored.
I realize that most of the people responsible are upper management who failed to make and enforce safe policies. I don’t like the idea of punishing developers who had nothing to do with it. But at the same time, those managers also get my money. I know that I’m just one person and my blog only just reached 50 followers, so it’s not like they’ll be missing out on any major press or income. However, I have to follow my conscience. I wouldn’t feel okay with myself otherwise.
For example, earlier this year I bought Crash Bandicoot 4 in anticipation for making a fun blog post about his 25th anniversary, but now I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do. The developer, Toys for Bob, doesn’t have anything to do with this case, but Activision Blizzard is still the publisher. They’re still involved. For now, I’m holding off on that post.
I’ll include a link to the story for those who want to know more.
https://kotaku.com/activision-blizzard-employees-plan-walkout-wednesday-to-1847362030
Thank you for understanding. I hope these publishers come to their senses and make actual changes.
Hookshot, Charge Beam, Revive 