Blizzard turned game developers into rock stars. Misbehaviour followed

An employee holds a sign during a walkout at Activision Blizzard offices in Irvine, California, US, on July 28, 2021. The walkout was organised to protest the company’s responses to a recent sexual discrimination lawsuit and demanding more equitable treatment for underrepresented staff. — Bloomberg

One summer day in 2018, employees of the video game maker Blizzard Entertainment opened their email to find a brusque message from the chief executive officer, Mike Morhaime. It said the company parted ways with Ben Kilgore, the chief technology officer and Morhaime’s heir apparent.

The email didn’t give a reason, but employees immediately began to gossip. Kilgore presided over the most notorious group of sexist drinkers at the Irvine, California, headquarters, where sexism and drinking were rampant, current and former employees said.