Major Video Game Company Goes Terribly Woke

Video game holding company Activision Blizzard, known for iconic games like Call of Duty, is now reaping the consequences of going woke. Pushing themselves into the public eye over a tweeted personal opinion has now attracted viral attention to the company's unethical habits. The company, which hosts influencers who stream recordings of them playing video games to millions of viewers, has essentially blacklisted streamer Nick Kolcheff, known as Nickmercs online, for tweeting “They should leave the little kids out of it. That's the real issue.”

The tweet, in response to a video showing violent protestors outside a Glendale, California school board meeting, went viral. As a result Activision quickly prompted the removal of  Nickmercs “skin”, a graphic allowing him to look like his in-game character, from Call of Duty stores.

Activision, proudly touts that they were named one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” in 2019, 2020, and 2021 by the Human Rights Campaign. Though recent revelations indicate that Activision Blizzard was not such a welcoming and safe space for employees as the company.

The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) hit Activision with a hefty 35 million dollar fine for violations in their filings.

An official press release from the SEC reads as follows:

“The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Activision Blizzard Inc., a video game development and publishing company, agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges that it failed to maintain disclosure controls and procedures to ensure that the company could assess whether its disclosures pertaining to its workforce were adequate. The company also settled charges that it violated an SEC whistleblower protection rule.”

Another agency, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reached an 18 million dollar settlement with the gaming company after investigating the following:

“1. Subjecting female employees to sex-based discrimination, including harassment, 13 based on their gender. 2. Retaliating against female employees for complaining about sex-based discrimination, based on their gender. 3. Paying female employees less than male employees, based on their gender.”

Court documents also note that “On June 15, 2021, the Commission issued to Detendants a Letter of Determination finding reasonable cause on the claims alleged in this Complaint.”

Now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now suing to block the 69 billion dollar acquisition of the embroiled gaming company by Microsoft. The case will move to the FTC's internal judge to be evaluated for potential violations of multiple antitrust laws. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have been named defendants in court filings.

This article originally appeared in Accuracy in Media. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News. Republished with permission.