Bungie: Games Industry Must ‘Push Back On a Persistent Culture Of Harassment’

As the fallout from the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard by the state of California for sexual discrimination continues to shake the games industry, Bungie has published a lengthy statement on its Twitter standing against harassment and discrimination.

“Bungie is built on empowering our people no matter who they are, where they are from, or how they identify,” Bungie’s statement begins. The six-tweet thread reaffirms Bungie’s zero-tolerance policy against discrimination and its commitment to rooting out toxic culture.

The statement also acknowledges a need to reflect on the endemic problems within the games industry. “We don’t pretend that Bungie is perfect and that no one has experienced harassment while working here,” Bungie writes. “But we will not tolerate it and will confront it head one. And we will continue to do the work every day to be better.”

Bungie is built on empowering our people no matter who they are, where they are from, or how they identify.

We have a responsibility to acknowledge, reflect, and do what we can to push back on a persistent culture of harassment, abuse, and inequality that exists in our industry. — Bungie (@Bungie) July 22, 2021

Have you played Destiny 2?

Bungie says that “the accounts in this week’s news are difficult to read,” but the company hopes it will “lead to justice, awareness, and accountability.” Bungie’s statement is one of the few company statements that have come out since yesterday’s bombshell lawsuit.

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard this week in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Following a two-year investigation, the DFEH found Activision Blizzard discriminated against female employees at nearly all levels of employment in regards to compensation, promotion, assignments, and terminations.

The DFEH’s report says, Activision Blizzard assigned women and women of color to “lower paid and lower opportunity levels” and with salaries lower than their male counterparts for the same work. Activision Blizzard rebuked the DFEH’s report and you can read the company’s full statement in our report.

Bungie was previously partnered with Activision for eight years with the two companies working together on Bungie’s flagship franchise Destiny. In 2019, Bungie and Activision parted ways and Bungie assumed full publishing and development responsibilities on the Destiny franchise.

Bungie concluded its Twitter statement by writing, “Our goal is to continue to improve the experience for everyone working at Bungie and do our part to make the gaming industry as a whole to be more welcoming and inclusive.”

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor.

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