Community MetaSteam | July 2021 - Corporate Propaganda

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Yoshi

o_O
Jan 5, 2019
741
4,278
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A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick to All Employees

This has been a difficult and upsetting week.

I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days. I so appreciate your courage. Every voice matters - and
we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future.

Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf.

It is imperative that we acknowledge all perspectives and experiences and respect the feelings of those who have been mistreated in any way. I am
sorry that we did not provide the right empathy and understanding.

Many of you have told us that active outreach comes from caring so deeply for the Company. That so many people have reached out and shared
thoughts, suggestions, and highlighted opportunities for improvement is a powerful reflection of how you care for our communities of colleagues and
players – and for each other. Ensuring that we have a safe and welcoming work environment is my highest priority. The leadership team has heard you
loud and clear.

We are taking swift action to be the compassionate, caring company you came to work for and to ensure a safe environment. There is no place
anywhere at our Company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind.

We will do everything possible to make sure that together, we improve and build the kind of inclusive workplace that is essential to foster creativity and
inspiration.

I have asked the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of our policies and procedures to ensure that we have and maintain best practices to
promote a respectful and inclusive workplace. This work will begin immediately. The WilmerHale team will be led by Stephanie Avakian, who is a
member of the management team at WilmerHale and was most recently the Director of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s
Division of Enforcement.

We encourage anyone with an experience you believe violates our policies or in any way made you uncomfortable in the workplace to use any of our
many existing channels for reporting or to reach out to Stephanie. She and her team at WilmerHale will be available to speak with you on a confidential
basis and can be reached at ATVI@wilmerhale.com or 202-247-2725. Your outreach will be kept confidential. Of course, NO retaliation will be
tolerated.

We are committed to long-lasting change. Effective immediately, we will be taking the following actions:

1. Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To
strengthen our capabilities in this area we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance
team and the Employee Relations team.

2. Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe
spaces, moderated by third parties, for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.

3. Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have
impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.

4. Hiring Practices. Earlier this year I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates
for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are in fact adhering to
this directive.

5. In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is
inappropriate. We are removing that content.

Your well-being remains my priority and I will spare no company resource ensuring that our company has the most welcoming, comfortable, and safe
culture possible.

You have my unwavering commitment that we will improve our company together, and we will be the most inspiring, inclusive entertainment company
in the world.

Yours sincerely,
Bobby
 

Vantr

Junior Member
Feb 15, 2021
244
908
93
3 hours later: my budding idol agency almost went bankrupt, then it was saved by a hugely successful return single. Then I expanded too quickly, hired a lot of idols and staff without sufficient profit centers, my top idol was embroiled in a gacha scandal and then had an accident due to exhaustion, and I actually went bankrupt. A+, will play again.

But seriously this is a much more difficult and involved management sim than I would have ever expected from the title.
Okay, I think you've sold me on this game. Give me them gacha scandals.

So that makes it GAA, Tribes of Midgard and Idol Manager (soon) for games bought this month.

I finished the GAA 1-1 last night and it was a blast to get back into the AA games. The first case did feel a like bit of a slog as I clocked around 3 hours for it which probably makes it one of the longer first case in the AA series. One thing that threw me off while playing was one the speech bubbles (Hai) was translated to "Yes!" which can lead to some moments like this:

Not really spoilers but just in case

Looking forward to to playing more over the weekend.
 
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inky

🤔
Apr 17, 2019
999
2,797
93

A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick to All Employees

This has been a difficult and upsetting week.

I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days. I so appreciate your courage. Every voice matters - and
we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future.

Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf.

It is imperative that we acknowledge all perspectives and experiences and respect the feelings of those who have been mistreated in any way. I am
sorry that we did not provide the right empathy and understanding.

Many of you have told us that active outreach comes from caring so deeply for the Company. That so many people have reached out and shared
thoughts, suggestions, and highlighted opportunities for improvement is a powerful reflection of how you care for our communities of colleagues and
players – and for each other. Ensuring that we have a safe and welcoming work environment is my highest priority. The leadership team has heard you
loud and clear.

We are taking swift action to be the compassionate, caring company you came to work for and to ensure a safe environment. There is no place
anywhere at our Company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind.

We will do everything possible to make sure that together, we improve and build the kind of inclusive workplace that is essential to foster creativity and
inspiration.

I have asked the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of our policies and procedures to ensure that we have and maintain best practices to
promote a respectful and inclusive workplace. This work will begin immediately. The WilmerHale team will be led by Stephanie Avakian, who is a
member of the management team at WilmerHale and was most recently the Director of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s
Division of Enforcement.

We encourage anyone with an experience you believe violates our policies or in any way made you uncomfortable in the workplace to use any of our
many existing channels for reporting or to reach out to Stephanie. She and her team at WilmerHale will be available to speak with you on a confidential
basis and can be reached at ATVI@wilmerhale.com or 202-247-2725. Your outreach will be kept confidential. Of course, NO retaliation will be
tolerated.

We are committed to long-lasting change. Effective immediately, we will be taking the following actions:

1. Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To
strengthen our capabilities in this area we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance
team and the Employee Relations team.

2. Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe
spaces, moderated by third parties, for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.

3. Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have
impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.

4. Hiring Practices. Earlier this year I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates
for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are in fact adhering to
this directive.

5. In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is
inappropriate. We are removing that content.

Your well-being remains my priority and I will spare no company resource ensuring that our company has the most welcoming, comfortable, and safe
culture possible.

You have my unwavering commitment that we will improve our company together, and we will be the most inspiring, inclusive entertainment company
in the world.

Yours sincerely,
Bobby
It's kinda interseting when game developers themselves get a "we are listening" response.

Kotick and Anyone left at Blizzard in a leadership position have to go.
 

thekeats1999

MetaMember
Dec 10, 2018
1,451
4,234
113

A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick to All Employees

This has been a difficult and upsetting week.

I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days. I so appreciate your courage. Every voice matters - and
we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future.

Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf.

It is imperative that we acknowledge all perspectives and experiences and respect the feelings of those who have been mistreated in any way. I am
sorry that we did not provide the right empathy and understanding.

Many of you have told us that active outreach comes from caring so deeply for the Company. That so many people have reached out and shared
thoughts, suggestions, and highlighted opportunities for improvement is a powerful reflection of how you care for our communities of colleagues and
players – and for each other. Ensuring that we have a safe and welcoming work environment is my highest priority. The leadership team has heard you
loud and clear.

We are taking swift action to be the compassionate, caring company you came to work for and to ensure a safe environment. There is no place
anywhere at our Company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind.

We will do everything possible to make sure that together, we improve and build the kind of inclusive workplace that is essential to foster creativity and
inspiration.

I have asked the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of our policies and procedures to ensure that we have and maintain best practices to
promote a respectful and inclusive workplace. This work will begin immediately. The WilmerHale team will be led by Stephanie Avakian, who is a
member of the management team at WilmerHale and was most recently the Director of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s
Division of Enforcement.

We encourage anyone with an experience you believe violates our policies or in any way made you uncomfortable in the workplace to use any of our
many existing channels for reporting or to reach out to Stephanie. She and her team at WilmerHale will be available to speak with you on a confidential
basis and can be reached at ATVI@wilmerhale.com or 202-247-2725. Your outreach will be kept confidential. Of course, NO retaliation will be
tolerated.

We are committed to long-lasting change. Effective immediately, we will be taking the following actions:

1. Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To
strengthen our capabilities in this area we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance
team and the Employee Relations team.

2. Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe
spaces, moderated by third parties, for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.

3. Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have
impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.

4. Hiring Practices. Earlier this year I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates
for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are in fact adhering to
this directive.

5. In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is
inappropriate. We are removing that content.

Your well-being remains my priority and I will spare no company resource ensuring that our company has the most welcoming, comfortable, and safe
culture possible.

You have my unwavering commitment that we will improve our company together, and we will be the most inspiring, inclusive entertainment company
in the world.

Yours sincerely,
Bobby
I was going to say that this was the third or fourth time we have seen this sort of letter from kottik. Then realised it was Ubisoft.

It shows how bad things have gotten in the industry when it gets difficult to remember the companies that have had to apologise and issue a we are listening statement.
 

QFNS

Plays too many card games
Nov 18, 2018
1,280
3,106
113
Kotic's letter seems sincere because he finally feels threatened by the collective action of the walkout. He needs to go and the entire Activision leadership team should follow. Don't let the door hit them on the way out.
 

PC-tan

Low Tier Weeb
Jan 19, 2019
3,801
6,158
113
28
California
Hey Stevey for Dolby Atmos I just need a Device that is playing (audio source), receiver and Dolby Atmos speakers right?

My plan is to hook up my Xbox Series X to my Sony DN1080 and my Sony Dolby Atmos speakers, so that should work and I would not have to worry about anything related to the TV itself correct? I just want to make sure before I open up the box with those speakers and Best Buy doesn't let me return them or something
 

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,601
5,135
113

A Letter From CEO Bobby Kotick to All Employees

This has been a difficult and upsetting week.

I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days. I so appreciate your courage. Every voice matters - and
we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future.

Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf.

It is imperative that we acknowledge all perspectives and experiences and respect the feelings of those who have been mistreated in any way. I am
sorry that we did not provide the right empathy and understanding.

Many of you have told us that active outreach comes from caring so deeply for the Company. That so many people have reached out and shared
thoughts, suggestions, and highlighted opportunities for improvement is a powerful reflection of how you care for our communities of colleagues and
players – and for each other. Ensuring that we have a safe and welcoming work environment is my highest priority. The leadership team has heard you
loud and clear.

We are taking swift action to be the compassionate, caring company you came to work for and to ensure a safe environment. There is no place
anywhere at our Company for discrimination, harassment, or unequal treatment of any kind.

We will do everything possible to make sure that together, we improve and build the kind of inclusive workplace that is essential to foster creativity and
inspiration.

I have asked the law firm WilmerHale to conduct a review of our policies and procedures to ensure that we have and maintain best practices to
promote a respectful and inclusive workplace. This work will begin immediately. The WilmerHale team will be led by Stephanie Avakian, who is a
member of the management team at WilmerHale and was most recently the Director of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s
Division of Enforcement.

We encourage anyone with an experience you believe violates our policies or in any way made you uncomfortable in the workplace to use any of our
many existing channels for reporting or to reach out to Stephanie. She and her team at WilmerHale will be available to speak with you on a confidential
basis and can be reached at ATVI@wilmerhale.com or 202-247-2725. Your outreach will be kept confidential. Of course, NO retaliation will be
tolerated.

We are committed to long-lasting change. Effective immediately, we will be taking the following actions:

1. Employee Support. We will continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action. To
strengthen our capabilities in this area we are adding additional senior staff and other resources to both the Compliance
team and the Employee Relations team.

2. Listening Sessions. We know many of you have inspired ideas on how to improve our culture. We will be creating safe
spaces, moderated by third parties, for you to speak out and share areas for improvement.

3. Personnel Changes. We are immediately evaluating managers and leaders across the Company. Anyone found to have
impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.

4. Hiring Practices. Earlier this year I sent an email requiring all hiring managers to ensure they have diverse candidate slates
for all open positions. We will be adding compliance resources to ensure that our hiring managers are in fact adhering to
this directive.

5. In-game Changes. We have heard the input from employee and player communities that some of our in-game content is
inappropriate. We are removing that content.

Your well-being remains my priority and I will spare no company resource ensuring that our company has the most welcoming, comfortable, and safe
culture possible.

You have my unwavering commitment that we will improve our company together, and we will be the most inspiring, inclusive entertainment company
in the world.

Yours sincerely,
Bobby
The no-backlash against people that speak out is total bullshit. I've been on the receiving end of workplace abuse and mistreatment, not sexual abuse or anything related to my gender and/or sexual orientation but the rest of their story is pretty similar to mine, and I've followed the proper channels to report these people and provided evidence and at the end of the day they, the ones in power, were protected and the whole thing was swept under the rug while I was left to face to consequences of daring to speak out.
Corportate jobs and corporate management is always the same no matter the type of firm (videogames, engineering, law, etc), this whole buddy act is just that, an act. Maybe because this is so widespread and so many people walked out they'll manage to avoid most of the backlash but once this dies down a little they'll face the music and the little guys will, once again, be the ones to lose.
 

Joe Spangle

Playing....
Apr 17, 2019
2,456
8,326
113
Been reading about the Flight Sim update and it does look great, im tempted.

I dont however want to spend £60 on it and also reading about the download issues with Microsoft puts me right off. If it all went through Steam i might bite but im not willing to waste time and effort on Microsofts update manager.

But hey, its just another launcher right....
 
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beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
2,170
4,558
113
I’m sure my invite will come. Any minute now. Aaaany minute… :blobweary:

Anywho, I’m enjoying playing Environmental Station Alpha still. There are some odd choices and difficulty spikes that really test your patience, but at times it’s also some of the most fun I’ve had with a Metroidvania game. I would almost make a likely questionable and definitely premature statement about it in comparison to Super Metroid, but I’ll leave that to the imagination. Instead, I’ll say that I would 100% recommend it if you can put up with gittin’ gud and can dedicate the game some time and patience to let it grow on you.

Edit: Actually, I’ll just clarify. I think the awkward floatiness of the jump in Super Metroid, its dated control scheme and its penchant to hide stuff in unmarked hidden blocks were more detrimental to my enjoyment than any of ESA’s issues. So I’m finding the latter overall an easier game to get into and stick with in 2021.
 
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dex3108

MetaMember
Dec 20, 2018
3,437
15,778
113
Funniest thing on social media these days is Ubisoft developers supporting Acti-Blizzard developers while doing nothing to challenge Ubisoft issues.
 
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Kiru

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
321
700
93
Been reading about the Flight Sim update and it does look great, im tempted.

I dont however want to spend £60 on it and also reading about the download issues with Microsoft puts me right off. If it all went through Steam i might bite but im not willing to waste time and effort on Microsofts update manager.

But hey, its just another launcher right....
In Flight Sim's case you download another launcher within the launcher, because the download via the Microsoft Store (Steam too) is just the game client without any game files. If your internet isn't the best you will spend hours ingame to download the actual game...
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
7,395
12,481
113
I really also should start streaming, as you said no one reads blogs anymore.:/
Streaming has been the "new thing" for years tho?!
You two need to get yourselves an avatar and become VTubers!

... though if you want to catch the next wave of cool then get on VR Chat, the mainstream are finally starting to realise how flexible it is so i can see some form of VR Chat type streaming becoming big even for people that don't watch in VR.
Failing that get on TikTok and be the "Cool old Guys" doing short, memey game reviews.
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
3,534
7,621
113
Interesting interview with Layden.


I guess that's another reason why Sony (and others) are looking to other markets like PC/Steam and mobile, games costs more and more to make and the Playstation console playerbase isn't enough.
Well fuck me, I agree with a Sony guy on something, at least regarding consolidation and corporate culture.
Any theories of why FlightSim hasn't had a sale yet? Very interested in it and really liked what I tried on game pass, but not full price interested.
Pioneering that good old 70 bucks price tag and seeing how many people bend over.

Also I'm freaking loving that sleazy bobby kottick letter. This means that the employee protest, halt of WoW production and walkout are working in producing financial pain. They need to keep it up and not fall for that appeasement bs that is meant more for shareholders anyway.

This is how worker's right were always won, by taking away enough profit that their silly demands of humane treatment be acceded to.
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
7,395
12,481
113
Swenhir That and the current exodus of WOW players to Final Fantasy XIV which has been a trickle for years but is now a firehose has become a perfect storm and probably got shareholders and investors asking difficult questions. WOW was always Acti-Blizz stable cash machine and with the investment into "WOW Classic" not paying off (Due to people leaving) i'm sure there's some worried faces in the C-Suite there. Of course, they'll all get big bonuses and easily find high-paying jobs elsewhere but it's still not a good look and all these things combine into Kottick writing that letter.

Even if many of the people that are on FFXIV now return to WOW/WOW Classic it think the damage is done and it'll take a while to get the numbers back.
I don't think they can get away with just lip-service this time and i don't think that announcing WOW2 will be enough either. Hopefully pressure is kept on them long enough that they enact actual change but we'll see.
 
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Aaron D.

MetaMember
Jul 10, 2019
1,013
4,710
113
It's gonna be hard making time for both City of Gangsters and Patron but I'm going to have to find a way because I'm really excited for both. So much potential.
Yeah, Patron looks quite interesting too.

I'm curious about CoG's reception.

I imagine the theming will pull a lot in on setting alone. And with those folks I expect a sort of backlash, "You're just fetch-questing between suppliers & buyers!" "It's a spreadsheet game in disguise!".

But I'm all in on the premise. I simply see it as a Logistics game 1st, a "gangster sim" 2nd.

Bring it.
 
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Joe Spangle

Playing....
Apr 17, 2019
2,456
8,326
113

But you missed the premiere Aug. release.
There used to be an old Gangsters game that i liked where you would spend the first half of it planning the weekly activities like which places to hit up for protection money etc and then the second half would play out what you have planned in a isometric city map. It was good. Organised crime i think it was sub-tagged.

EDIT - Its on GOG...

 
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prudis

anime occult member
Sep 19, 2018
10,305
26,951
113
The Kingdom of Beer and Porn
twitter.com

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,109
26,224
113
Jim Ryan finally says straight why they bought Nixxes



They could have announced something, anything, you know?
 
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Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,109
26,224
113
hopefully sometime later , this was released alongside PS5 sold 10mil info , i guess they dont want to enrage fanboys that much
on the contrary, if anything this is usually the best moment as they celebrate, PC port news will be hidden for most.
 
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fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
9,843
26,498
113
on the contrary, if anything this is usually the best moment as they celebrate, PC port news will be hidden for most.
"We were confident that this would be the case, we believed profoundly in the feature set of our new platform, and we worked really hard internally and with our partners to make sure that the game line-up Bloodborne PC 19th august was really strong, and we have continued to pepper the community with excellent PlayStation Studios' games like MLB: The Show, Returnal, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. But fair to say that the engagement has surprised us, in a very pleasant way."
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,109
26,224
113
Well my random Tuesday thing yesterday wasn't that far off XD
it was, this is third time we got confirmation of "more pc ports" but none new, this starts feeling like SEGA EU in 2017-18

"We were confident that this would be the case, we believed profoundly in the feature set of our new platform, and we worked really hard internally and with our partners to make sure that the game line-up Bloodborne PC 19th august was really strong, and we have continued to pepper the community with excellent PlayStation Studios' games like MLB: The Show, Returnal, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. But fair to say that the engagement has surprised us, in a very pleasant way."
I'm not getting the joke, sorry :(
 

MaskedCircle

"Let's Positive Thinking"
May 28, 2021
153
316
63
"We were confident that this would be the case, we believed profoundly in the feature set of our new platform, and we worked really hard internally and with our partners to make sure that the game line-up Bloodborne PC 19th august was really strong, and we have continued to pepper the community with excellent PlayStation Studios' games like MLB: The Show, Returnal, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. But fair to say that the engagement has surprised us, in a very pleasant way."
please don't mention bloodborne in front of me, it hurts. : (
 

fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
9,843
26,498
113
it was, this is third time we got confirmation of "more pc ports" but none new, this starts feeling like SEGA EU in 2017-18


I'm not getting the joke, sorry :(
Read closer. You talked about Sony hiding PC port announcements.
 
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