Blizzard President J. Allen Brack is leaving the company amid a cultural reckoning at parent Activision Blizzard Inc. over a California lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination and harassment.
Brack’s departure was disclosed in an email to staff Tuesday, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Brack will be replaced by Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra, the new “coleaders” of Blizzard. The shares fell 3.5% Tuesday.
A human-resources executive, Jesse Meschuk, also left the company this week, according to an Activision Blizzard spokesperson. Meschuk was the senior people officer at Blizzard and the unit’s top HR representative.
Blizzard, the maker of the Warcraft and Diablo games, was the main subject of accusations contained in the lawsuit from a California state agency. Many of the allegations took place before Brack was named president in 2018.
Still, Brack came under intense scrutiny after the complaint was filed over his leadership style. A video of Brack at a company event in 2010 resurfaced on social media, showing him on a panel with colleagues laughing off a question from a woman about the sexualization of female characters in the World of Warcraft game.
