It's lame that they're trying to save face by removing all references of the perps in their games. Renaming OW's McCree's and WoW's Mac'Aree is just so tonedeaf and insincere.

But anyway, what do I think...? You know, I'm one of those types of ppl that is both surprised and unsurprised by the same thing. I would expect more from video game developers - especially in large companies like Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Riot - to be more respectful and considerate to all co-workers, male or female. Now, I know that doesn't happen in almost any workplace. I've worked in large insurance and government offices/buildings for about a decade of my life, and also retail for a few years, and of course there's always a creep, asshole, etc here and there. But I'd never expect it at the scale or intensity that's come to light.

But then I also think, this doesn't surprise me. We hear about this stuff from so many places and for so long, that it shouldn't be surprising. Maybe I've just lucked out and never worked at a place w/ a "fratboy environment". I haven't read the full details, but I'd actually be REALLY surprised if no one ever stood up for the victims. Even if the perps were higher ups, surely they had friends who could've just been like "hey, you may wanna relax/ease up."

I dunno...maybe I have too much faith in people still.

One of my theories is this has to do w/ going public or at least being owned by a public foreign company (Riot). I know it doesn't apply to every major developer that is publicly traded or owned by a publicly traded publisher (i.e. Respawn, Rockstar, Monolith, etc seem fine. BioWare especially seems to really have an inclusive culture ingrained in its work environment). But you especially never really hear of this stuff in major private - or recently ex-private - developers like Epic, Valve, or Bethesda/Arkane/id, etc. Of course, this is NOT counting development-related things like crunch or forcing re-worked content. I'm just focusing on the social nature of the work environment.

I don't know...I think that when publishers care more about making money and pleasing shareholders, they sort of just hire whoever they can to get the work done and work culture comes in second place. This allows more scummy ppl to be hired, develop their own culture w/ other like-minded scummy ppl and you suddenly have these type of work places.

Maybe I'm reaching, but I honestly think a positive and inclusive work environment is easier to manage when a developer is given 100% creative and scheduling freedom. When the game takes precedent over the dollar. Not always, sure, but just the feeling I get.