Jen Oneal, who was appointed co-lead at Blizzard in the wake of a sexual harassment suit brought against Activision Blizzard state by state, is leaving the position. This comes just three months into Jen Oneal's tenure. Mike Ybarra is a former Xbox executive and will be taking over the role of co-lead. He will take up the position immediately.
Oneal stated in a statement posted on Blizzards website that he has decided to leave the role of co-leading Blizzard Entertainment. He will be transitioning to a new position at the end the year. I'm not doing this because there is no hope for Blizzard. In fact, I am inspired by everyone working with their whole hearts towards lasting, meaningful change. This energy inspired me to explore the possibilities of bringing games and diversity together, and to hopefully have a wider industry impact that will benefit Blizzard and other studios.
I am inspired by everyone's passion for making meaningful and lasting changes with their whole heart.
Blizzard will make a $1million grant to Women in Games International. Oneal is a board member. Oneal said that she will begin to plan the structure and the use of the grant before she leaves Activision Blizzard.
Since July's lawsuit, Activision Blizzard underwent significant changes. J. Allen Brack, the former president of Blizzard (who Ybarra & Oneal replaced), and Jesse Meschuck, the former head for global human resources, left the company in August. In September, the company's chief legal officer left. Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard CEO, took a huge pay cut and stopped forced arbitration last week.
The company made staffing changes and halted plans for BlizzConline 2020. It also changed the games it makes to remove any references to problematic characters. Blizzard has changed the name of Overwatchs Jesse McCree (named after a former lead designer) and has vowed not to use any references in World of Warcraft.
Activision Blizzard announced Tuesday that Overwatch 2 & Diablo 4 were again delayed.
