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Activision Blizzard Lawsuit: Indian Esports Firms Pause All Call Of Duty Tournaments

Several Indian esports organisations have reportedly paused, postponed or even cancelled upcoming Call of Duty tournaments in the country. The decision comes after a recent California lawsuit of alleged harassment and dicrimination of female employees against Activision Blizzard was reported. 

The Indian esports organisations reportedly fear that the incident would affect their business because of being associated with the developer. The organisations do not want  Activision Blizzard’s negative publicity to affect their business or position in the market. While some organisations expressed shock at the revelation of such a lawsuit against a global brand like Activision Blizzard.

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The game developer has limited presence in India. Currently, it only distributes several versions of Call of Duty in retail. As per news reports, the developer was looking for Indian marketing teams to oversee the Indian Call of Duty related operations at its Singapore and Australia offices.

“Sure, it’s happening in the US, but it looks bad for us and any sponsors we want to approach. Call of Duty: Mobile was seen as a safe bet with political tensions surrounding BGMI, but we’ll probably move on to that game,” one organiser told IGN.

Last week a lawsuit was filed by the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment, accusing Activision Blizzard of encouraging a culture wherein women employees of the company were sexually harassed and women of colour are paid less and posted to lower positions as compared to the male employees. The lawsuit was filed on the basis of a two-year investigation.

ALSO READ: Call Of Duty Reveals Name And Theme For Season 5

Following the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard issued a public statement saying that the lawsuit included distorted and false descriptions of Blizzard’s past. It further claimed that the lawsuit was the work of ‘unaccountable State bureaucrats.’ Many officials from the top management then began to respond personally calling the allegations ‘troubling’ and ‘meritless.’

More than 1,000 employees of the company have written an open letter to the top management criticizing the company’s response to the lawsuit. The letter states that the company’s internal responses to the lawsuit are abhorrent and insulting. It also urged the management ‘to demand change and hold our leaders and companies accountable to the values we signed onto when joining.’ The employees also said that they no longer trust that the company’s leaders will place employee safety above their own interests.

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Photo credit: screenrant.com

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