Pringles and Cheez-It Grooves are now gone from the Overwatch sponsors list, according to the Twitter page for Overwatch News. We are still waiting to see if Kelloggs – one of the last remaining sponsors – will be making a similar move. While we don't have word yet, we expect to hear more information on this soon.
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Similarly, Coca-Cola and State Farm are “reassessing” their partnership with Activision Blizzard in light of California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing ongoing lawsuit against the company, which alleges numerous cases of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Coca-Colastated that it is “aware of the allegations surrounding Activision Blizzard,” while State Farm asserted that it is “re-evaluating [its] limited marketing relationship with the Overwatch League.”
This news comes after Activision Blizzard’s recent attempt to address the growing list of allegations wedged at the company, which include accounts of sexism, racism, and sexual misconduct. J. Allen Brack, Blizzard president, recently left the company, leaving it in the hands of co-leaders Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra. Activision Blizzard president, Daniel Alegre, stated that Brack was leaving to “pursue new opportunities,” but a senior analyst pointed out that this announcement comes right in line with Activision Blizzard earnings report.
In addition to this, Activision Blizzard outlined four other steps it plans to take to implement major changes into the company.
- It will continue to investigate each complaint as it is filed. Additional staff and resources will be added to handle the workload.
- Any manager or leader that is found to have impeded the integrity of investigations will be terminated.
- The addition of resources to enhance the "consideration of diverse candidate slates for all open positions."
- The review and removal of any inappropriate in-game content.
It’s not yet clear what impact this will have on the company, but the loss of sponsorship for the Overwatch League is bound to add a substantial punch to Activision Blizzard’s wake up call, as the company is clearly already feeling the pressure to make changes.
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