- J. Allen Brack, president of "Call of Duty" maker Blizzard Entertainment, stepped down on Tuesday.
- Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra were named as Blizzard's new co-leaders.
- Last week, the state of California sued Activision Blizzard in a labor lawsuit over sexual harassment claims.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Blizzard Entertainment president J. Allen Brack is stepping down, the company announced on Tuesday. Activision Blizzard, the maker of popular video games such as "Call of Duty" and "Warcraft," faces a lawsuit from the state of California on sexual harassment and discrimination claims.
Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra were named as Blizzard's new co-leaders, whom Brack said "can be trusted to lead with the highest levels of integrity and commitment to the components of our culture that make Blizzard so special."
The lawsuit against Blizzard was filed after a two-year investigation into the California gaming giant, and alleged that the company had a "pervasive frat boy workplace culture." Many of the complaints took place before Brack became president in 2018.
Women employees said Blizzard encouraged events like "cube crawls" during which male staff members "drink copious amounts of alcohol as they crawl their way through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees."
According to Bloomberg Law, one Blizzard employee took her own life during a company trip after being subjected to frequent sexual harassment, such as having nude photos circulated at a company holiday party.
In response to the lawsuit, Activision executive VP Fran Townsend told employees in an email that the claims were "distorted and untrue," adding that it was "truly meritless and irresponsible."
After the pushback from leadership, 1,000 Activision employees wrote a letter protesting the company's response. "To put it clearly and unequivocally," the letter said, "our values as employees are not accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership."
Blizzard said that Oneal and Ybarra "are deeply committed to all of our employees; to the work ahead to ensure Blizzard is the safest, most welcoming workplace possible for women, and people of any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or background."