Activision Blizzard has been running damage control since the State of California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against the company in July for discrimination and harassment. One of the results of the suit has been Blizzard changing the names of in-game characters who were named after employees implicated in the questionable behavior, like Jesse McCree and Alex Afrasiabi. Many people believe that those character alterations carried over to Diablo 2: Resurrected as well.
Asmongold isn’t buying it. In a Twitch stream on September 22, he spoke about the changes in Diablo 2: Resurrected. “I know a lot of people might not really care, but I do. I don’t like to see this happen, this revisionism. I want to play a video game. The extent that they’re going to change the game based off of them trying to make up for the fact they molest people at their office is just, it’s insulting to me as a player. I think that it’s also condescending. It’s patronizing. … The game is no longer an artistic expression, it’s now a vehicle to promote an agenda and a worldview.”
The company also had an additional lawsuit filed against it on behalf of Activision Blizzard employees via the National Labor Relations Board. Additionally, a number of investors feel that they were misled by the company when it didn’t disclose the DFEH investigation, which took place over the course of two years, and the SEC is now investigating Activision Blizzard as a result.
Diablo 2: Resurrected is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Sources: Dexerto, Twitch (1), (2)
