A leaked newsletter from inside Activision and Blizzard reveals that the company is internally rebranding its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion group to Inclusive Growth in the wake of the public and legal pushback in nearly all levels of society.
A screenshot from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (2024), Treyarch and Raven Software
Former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern aka Grummz shared the newsletter from Activision’s new Head of Inclusive Growth Casey Morris.
Morris wrote, “We have some new ‘news’ to share. Going forward, we’ll be changing the name of our group from DE&I (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) to ‘Inclusive Growth’ to represent the dynamic and strategic work our team is doing to bring inclusion and equity to our People, Candidate, Game Development, and Creative processes across the business.”
“This change to use Inclusive Growth also better reflects the dynamic and amazing audience that plays our games today, and ensures we are growing in the right ways with our community,” Morris added.
He concluded, “This adjustment does not impact one of our core values of Championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&). That work and value remains critical to our culture. This change simply better reflects our strategic people and business opportunities as we look to our future.”
A screenshot of an Activision email explaining their rebranding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to Inclusive Growth
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Grummz commented, “Activision and Blizzard rebrands DEI as companies flee the label and downplay DE&I and ESG. The terms are now deemed toxic to their political agenda, but nothing has changed. They are just trying to hide it now.”
He added, “I’ve confirmed this with multiple sources inside Activision/Blizzard. Kirsche called it months ago…the rebrand is here.”
🚨BREAKING: Activision and Blizzard rebrands DEI as companies flee the label and downplay DE&I and ESG.
The terms are now deemed toxic to their political agenda, but nothing has changed. They are just trying to hide it now.
I’ve confirmed this with multiple sources inside… pic.twitter.com/jB2kbE5drC
— Grummz (@Grummz) August 24, 2024
This rebrand comes in the wake of a number of major corporations completely ditching their DEI departments including Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, and Jack Daniels following pressure from their costumers led by Robby Starbuck.
In fact, a Wall Street Journal report at the end of June revealed that diversity policies do not lead to growth and that a study by McKinsey back in 2015 has not been replicated and the firm’s methods to determine its results are being questioned
James Mackintosh wrote, “Academics have tried to repeat McKinsey’s findings and failed, concluding that there is in fact no link between profitability and executive diversity. And the methodology of McKinsey’s early studies, which helped create the widespread belief that diversity is good for profits, is being questioned.”
He added, “Academics can’t replicate McKinsey’s study precisely, because it keeps secret the names of the companies it used. But a paper published this year finds that McKinsey’s methodology doesn’t show benefits from diversity for S&P 500 companies for a range of profitability metrics. It isn’t that a lack of diversity is good for profits either, it’s just there’s no link.”
A screenshot from Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (2020), Toys for Bob
Outside of this, gamers have organized themselves against diversity signaling with various Steam curator lists, the largest created by Brazilian gamer KabrutusRambo called Sweet Baby Inc. detected. It has over 425,000 followers. He’s also launched an entire website to expose DEI in games called DEIDetected.
Gamers pushing back against this have had numerous wins. Those wins include Warner Bros. Discovery taking a $200 million impairment charge on ‘Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.’
Surgent Studios began laying off employees after gamers did not purchase Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake 2 has still not broken even nearly a year after its release and their financials do not look like those of a healthy company.
Sales for Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn are terrible and the developer, A44 Games began laying people off months before the game even released realizing the game was already dead.
A screenshot from Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (2024), A44 Games
Activision’s rebrand comes in the wake of a report in May from Grummz that Activision was placing DEI officers on all of its projects. He shared that bonuses and reviews for Activision employees “depend on how hard you DEI.”
He also detailed that “DEI Officers are installed on every dev team to ensure THE MESSAGE.”
Furthermore, Kern relayed, “Of all the AAA Studios out there, my dev friends and contacts who have come forth tell me that Ubisoft and Activision are the very worst.”
A screenshot of Venture from Overwatch 2 (2023), Blizzard
To top it off, Grummz shared an internal document that he alleges was sent to Activision employees last week that details all the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives the company engaged in over the last year.
He claims that this is just “one of MULTIPLE DEI emails sent out weekly in a deluge of propaganda.”
Activision DEI Leaked! Plus:
– Your bonus and review depend on how hard you DEI.
– DEI Officers are installed on every dev team to ensure THE MESSAGE.
Of all the AAA Studios out there, my dev friends and contacts who have come forth tell me that @Ubisoft and @Activision are… pic.twitter.com/TDZqRn6v0o
— Grummz (@Grummz) May 16, 2024
The internal document is signed by Casey Morris, Actvision’s Officer of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. One bullet point reads, “Made meaningful strides with collaborations between Inclusive Game Design (IGD) and our marketing creatives team, like with representation of the ‘King Koa’ Operator skin and the inspiration behind its development.” The King Koa skin was released as part of a Veteran’s Day Warrior Pack and was inspired by retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Benjamin F. from American Samoa.
Another notes, “Created the IGD council, comprised of external experts to act as an additional layer of expertise to share input on our content review processes in partnership with our IGD team.”
A screenshot from World of Warcraft: Dragonflight – Seeds of Renewal (2024), Blizzard
There are also some suspect bullet points that appear to indicate the company is engaging in quota-based hiring and contracting. One bullet point reads, “Kicked off our TA/DE&I roadshow with some of our studio leads to deep dive into opportunities to expand our talent reach in collaboration with our Talent Acquisition team.”
Another states, “Worked with a number of Minority-owned Businesses Enterprises (MBE) to create experiences for our employees during celebrations in partnerships with our Internal Events team.”
The first bullet points also states, “Created a mentorship program, XP Equity, for all Activision employees to partake in an opportunity for connection and growth, and increased participation of mentor sign ups from cohort 1 to cohort 2.”
A screenshot of an alleged internal document from Activision
While the document claims that XP Equity is open to all employees, on the company’s Diversity & Inclusion website, a brief overview of the program makes it clear it has a certain focus on individuals based on their race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, and disability.
The overview states, “Mentoring proves to build skill, networking, and confidence. The XP Equity Mentoring Program is a program open to all Activision employees with special focus on supporting individuals who are part of diverse groups (including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, etc.) within our employee population.”
Activision XP Equity Mentorship Program via Activision’s Diversity & Equity website
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As far as the idea that DEI Officers are installed on every development team, the company’s President Rob Kostich declared as part of the company’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report that “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I) is a critical component of our future success. Our journey toward fostering DE&I began years ago, fueled by the passion and stories shared by our employees. To fulfill our vision of becoming the most inclusive blockbuster games company, we have embedded DE&I in every aspect of our operations.”
Kostich added, “We strive to create an environment where our talented employees can thrive and do the best work of their lives, and by integrating DE&I into our game development process, we can evolve our games to better resonate with abroader audience and to better foster community around the world. Every initiative we undertake is driven by the belief that we are building a better future – for our people and our players.”
He continued, “Embracing diverse perspectives is not only the right thing to do, but it also enables us to make informed decisions that shape the future of gaming and entertainment. It is an exciting time to now be a part of Xbox, who shares our perspective and commitment. While we acknowledge that there is still work to be done, we always embrace the challenge of continuous improvement. ‘Champion DE&I’ became one of our core values because of the unwavering passion and dedication of our exceptional employees, and it will remain a core focus of ours to help fuel our future growth.”
Screenshot from Activision’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
The report also detailed that the company does indeed track representation and inclusion data.
In fact, the company revealed it “started measuring every employee’s sense of belonging through an Inclusion Score, a quantitative measure of the extent to which employees feel welcomed, valued, and included within the organization.”
Screenshot from Activision’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
Another slide delved into how the company is tracking its employees via Inclusion.
It states that the company “launched individual employee diversity, equity, and inclusion goal setting to foster accountability to building community, trust, belonging, and collaboration.”
Screenshot from Activision’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
The report also indicated that the company is indeed prioritizing individuals based on their race and sexual activities. One slide details that the company offers “training (e.g. Inclusive Hiring Workshops) and resources to help manages reduce bias and build more diverse candidate slates.”
The same slide also details that the company has an “increased presence at events and organizations in addition to internships and apprenticeships to broaden the population of people who have access to opportunities at Activision over time (e.g., Lesbians Who Tech, LatinX Games Festival, National Society of Black Engineers).”
Screenshot from Activision’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
Of note, the report also confirmed that the company is implementing DE&I into its game design. One slide reads, “Through collaboration between the DE&I team and business units across Activision, we focus on game accessibility, diverse media representation, and fostering connection through our gaming communities.”
Specifically, it detailed the company’s focus on Inclusive Game Design and what its Inclusive Game Design Council does, “Our Inclusive Game Design Council, with external experts, educates and supports developers in creating inclusive games. This year, we collaborated with UCLA Center for Scholars and Storytellers for workshops on Gender Identity, Roles, Stereotypes, and Cultural Appropriation in Video Games. These empower our teams to create inclusive characters, storylines, and games. We are piloting the Inclusive Game Design Ambassadors program to support employee initiatives for inclusive best practices.”
Screenshot from Activision’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
The document stated, “It is important that our games authentically showcase different cultures, identities, and lived experiences. One example we’re excited about is Catbat, Activision’s first non-binary character. Catbat made their debut in the multiplayer game, Crash Team Rumble. An escaped prisoner of antagonist Dr. Neo Cortex, and as a lover of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Catbat is also the series’ first character voiced by a gender-fluid actor who uses all pronouns.”
Kaytlen Mennell, who works in Human Resources at Infinity Ward, added, “Activision’s scope around operations means infusing DE&I in design, putting a lot of effort and resources into ensuring authenticity in our games through the collaboration of artists, animators, and developers.”
Screenshot from Activision’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Report
What do you make of Activision trying to rebrand its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion department into Inclusive Growth?
