Activision Blizzard Cancels Any Further All Hands Meetings, Prioritizes “Discussion Sessions” With No Mention of Walkout

Correction: a previous version of this article listed Suzie Carr as head of Activision PR, rather than HR. This error has been fixed. 

On Monday, July 26, Activision Blizzard held a pseudo all hands meeting to address the State of California lawsuit against the company for its alleged culture of sexism and toxicity towards women employed there, particularly women of color. Another meeting was supposed to be scheduled for Tuesday to include all of the company’s staff, but according to our source, it was cancelled. Now, that same source tells us that any future all hands style meetings have been tabled in favor of smaller group “discussion sessions.”

According to an email sent by head of Activision HR Suzie Carr, which our source provided to us, “starting tomorrow, members of the Activision Publishing executive leadership team -Terri Durham, Johanna Faries, Rob Kostich, Dave Stohl, Josh Taub, and me [Carr] — together as a collective are hosting a number of active discussion sessions for up to 30 people.” The email goes on to note that should there be a high demand for these sessions, additional AP leaders will be made available to help. Employees that wish to participate in these sessions have to register for them through the company, according to the email. 

Carr’s email also lists other ways Activision Blizzard is encouraging its employees to engage with the situation. The next section of the email, titled “Share Individual Concerns” asks that employees continue to voice their concerns to leadership and that “all reports will be investigated, and if wrongdoing is found, we will take action.” According to the email, there are “a number of avenues available to bring concerns to our [A/B leadership] attention,” including the company’s Way2Play portal which apparently has a list of resources available. Carr goes on to offer herself up as a listening ear for any employees that wish to discuss what’s been happening and committing to “help raise any concerns to the appropriate level.”

Additionally, Carr’s email asks employees to “take care of yourselves and each other,” once again citing in-house resource lists employees can apparently access. No part of the email from Carr references the demands made by Activision Blizzard employees during the walkout they staged on Wednesday, July 28, or even the walkout itself.