Activision Blizzard CEO Rob Kostich Informs Employees It Remains Committed To DEI Policies Despite President Donald Trump's Executive Orders
In a leaked message to his staff, Activision Blizzard CEO Rob Kostich informed employees the company remains committed to DEI policies despite President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
As shared to X by former World of Warcraft Team Lead Mark Kern aka Grummz, Kostich told employees, “Given the headlines around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the workplace, it’s no surprise that questions have come up about what the future looks like at Activision and whether our focus and priorities around DEI shift.”
“To be clear, this work continues to be extremely important in everything that we do,” he continued. “It’s important to our games, our culture, and who we are as a company.”
“Our Inclusive Growth team has made great strides in helping us weave inclusivity in all aspects of business. Our strategy here remains focused on enhancing the experiences of all employees, providing exceptional experiences to players globally and providing accessible opportunities to those interacting with our company and brand,” he concluded. “I look forward to all the great work we’ll continue to do together.”
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This statement comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” where he observed that “critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation.”
The order continues, “Illegal DEI and DEIA policies not only violate the text and spirit of our longstanding Federal civil-rights laws, they also undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system. Hardworking Americans who deserve a shot at the American Dream should not be stigmatized, demeaned, or shut out of opportunities because of their race or sex.”
“These illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities,” it adds. “Yet in case after tragic case, the American people have witnessed first-hand the disastrous consequences of illegal, pernicious discrimination that has prioritized how people were born instead of what they were capable of doing.”
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From there, President Trump reiterated his order “to terminate all discriminatory and illegal preferences, mandates, policies, programs, activities, guidance, regulations, enforcement actions, consent orders, and requirements.”
Next, he charged, “I further order all agencies to enforce our longstanding civil-rights laws and to combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.”
In a section specifically aimed at the private sector, it states, “The heads of all agencies, with the assistance of the Attorney General, shall take all appropriate action with respect to the operations of their agencies to advance in the private sector the policy of individual initiative, excellence, and hard work identified in section 2 of this order.”
The first part of this is a report that will be submitted to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy that will "contain recommendations for enforcing Federal civil-rights laws and taking other appropriate measures to encourage the private sector to end illegal discrimination and preferences, including DEI.”
This report will include a plan whereby “each agency shall identify up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars”
It also will include litigation that would be potentially appropriate for Federal lawsuits, intervention, or statements of interest; and potential regulatory action and sub-regulatory guidance.”
Kostich’s comments are unsurprising, in the company’s 2023-2024 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Report he said, “At Activision, Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I) is a critical component of our future success. Our journey toward fostering DE&I began years ago, fueled by the passion and stories shared by our employees. To fulfill our vision of becoming the most inclusive blockbuster games company, we have embedded DE&I in every aspect of our operations.”
“We strive to create an environment where our talented employees can thrive and do the best work of their lives, and by integrating DE&I into our game development process, we can evolve our games to better resonate with a broader audience and to better foster community around the world. Every initiative we undertake is driven by the belief that we are building a better future – for our people and our players,” he continued.
“Embracing diverse perspectives is not only the right thing to do, but it also enables us to make informed decisions that shape the future of gaming and entertainment. It is an exciting time to now be a part of Xbox, who shares our perspective and commitment. While we acknowledge that there is still work to be done, we always embrace the challenge of continuous improvement. ‘Champion DE&I’ became one of our core values because of the unwavering passion and dedication of our exceptional employees, and it will remain a core focus of ours to help fuel our future growth,” he concluded.
The lengthy report goes on to reveal that Activision Blizzard tracks its employees by race and sex and even implies that it recruits based on these factors as well.
It also reveals the company was specifically creating transgender propaganda through its various so-called games.
One slide states, “It is important that our games authentically showcase different cultures, identities, and lived experiences. One example we’re excited about is Catbat, Activision’s first non-binary character. Catbat made their debut in the multiplayer game, Crash Team Rumble. An escaped prisoner of antagonist Dr. Neo Cortex, and as a lover of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Catbat is also the series’ first character voiced by a gender-fluid actor who uses all pronouns.”
What do you make of Kostich’s commitment to DEI and his defiance of President Donald Trump and the United States government?
No wonder Overwatch is a dead Game, and Blizzard hasn't made a GOOD Game in over 10 years.
COD is dead as well, and other then those two Games, there is nothing Activision/Blizzard has to offer. Diablo 4 is a failure, and I bet Diablo 5 comes out maybe 5 years after D4 released as an attempt to save the IP.
Get Woke, Go Broke...........
Let the company rot.