T-Mobile appears to have canceled its sponsorship of Call of Duty and Overwatch's esports leagues amid the Activision Blizzard lawsuit.
Activision Blizzard was hit with a lawsuit last month filed by the state of California. The suit makes a number of incredibly serious allegations against the studio and many of those who work there, or who have worked there in recent years. It's accused of housing a “frat boy culture” in which employees were subjected to harassment and abuse by co-workers.
In the wake of these allegations, T-Mobile appears to have pulled its sponsorship of a couple of esports leagues: Call of Duty and Overwatch's leagues, two games created under the Activision Blizzard banner. While there has been no official word on why T-Mobile has revoked its sponsorship, Charlie Intel highlights the clues suggesting that is indeed the case.
RELATED: If The Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Shocks You, You Haven't Been Paying Attention
Both Call of Duty and Overwatch's league sites have banners featuring all of their official sponsors. T-Mobile has disappeared from both of those banners. It was seen there as recently as July 21, 2021, for the Call of Duty league, and was present until at least July 26, 2021, for Overwatch. T-Mobile also sponsored weekly drops for Call of Duty players. However, the latest one, which was scheduled to drop over the weekend, was pulled without explanation.
In 2018, an Activision employee set up cameras in bathrooms to spy on coworkers #gamer #gamingnews #activision #activisionblizzard #lawsuit
Again, there has been no confirmation from T-Mobile that its sponsorship has been pulled, or why it has pulled it if that is the case. However, the timing of its logo's disappearance certainly lines up with the issues surrounding Activision Blizzard right now. Not only the initial filing but the other details that have surfaced since, as well as the ill-thought-out responses from the company's higher-ups.
The backlash to Activision Blizzard's first statement was so fierce that its own employees staged a walkout in response to it. An attempt to weather the storm by CEO Bobby Kotick just made things worse, and the coverage of Blizzcon's Cosby Suite and an employee being terminated for placing cameras in company bathrooms has further shone a spotlight on the issues that appear to have been going on behind the scenes for years at the company.
NEXT: Rivet And Kit Need Their Own Miles Morales-Style Spin-Off
