Former World of Warcraft developers claim he was fired for greedy goblin lines of text

So good old Bobby Kotick’s interview yesterday got him thinking Really great when we use very imprecise definitions of the words “great” and also “good”. You know what would be the only thing that would make this whole thing look better? If a former World of Warcraft An employee brought up a thread claiming he was fired because the leadership didn’t like the lines he wrote for a greedy in-game loot goblin. But what are the chances of that happening??

Well yes, 100%. You knew that because it was a very specific question.

The employee in question is Eric Covington, and according to him linkedinHe then worked for Blizzard for almost nine years World of Warcraft And Diablo III; He ended up being an associate game designer for several gameplay systems in Dragonflight. His Twitter storm was in response to yesterday’s Variety Puff post about Kotick, which allowed several people to claim without questioning that Kotick is a “good assessor of game talent” who “gives his people enough authority to make good.” making decisions” and “believes in allowing”. its creators to make the games right” and “respects the creative producer and developer in all its various departments.”

Covington, with his own story, counters the narrative that Activision-Blizzard is doing all of these things was released in March. Covington was responsible for writing commentary from Venture Company booty goblins, who are said to be greedy corporate types. His offhand comments for the NPCs included, “Let’s call this a cost of living adjustment”, “No profit sharing”, “Finders Keeper”, “Looks like a different yacht to me”, and “I underperformed estimates”. “another record quarter for sales” and “time to go back to the office!” (For non-gamers, it’s worth noting here that the “greedy leprechaun” cliche for leprechaun characters has been around for a long time World of Warcraftand that can be objected to, but that doesn’t concern Covington.)

“I’ve written jokes taunting the generic corporate greed for a Venture Company looting goblin (very characterful), but then the string-lock leadership threw themselves face first into the joke while I was focusing on it to finish the patch,” says Covington. He further clarifies that his dialogue jokes, which weren’t aimed at anyone and admittedly totally fit the character of this NPC faction, made their way into the live version through marketing and publicity, but “to someone who’s ‘very high.’ “The company played the content and saw the lines” and had it fixed via hotfix just as Blizzard began the “cancellation” process […] behind [his] return.”

According to Reddit, that is The lines ultimately dropped by Blizzard were for the cost of living adjustment and the yacht, not the “back to the office” part. (In fact, Covington says he was excited to return to the office, but supported those who weren’t). Yacht jokes are a big deal in the Kotick-Spötter fandom (but also for all rich folk and capitalists); It’s even that common We I have a running yacht joke that has absolutely nothing to do with ABK. In any case, Covington claims he was fired because of that dialogue.

“No consideration or confidence to even ask what my intentions were with the character (Was it aimed at anyone? No.) No polite request to look into it and change a few lines due to the circumstances (I would have willingly and understandably done). helped). […] 9 years of service. Without question gone up in smoke because someone looked at a harmless joke and saw a reflection. They made sure I was hauled out before the end of the month, knowing full well that the benefits would expire the next day. I’m still grateful for the love and support of my friends and colleagues who weren’t happy with the decision (to take it lightly). They do great work, care about their colleagues and deserve to be treated and rewarded fairly. So if you want to get mad at a company, don’t direct it at the developers who work hard to live out their passions and make fun games that we all enjoy. Make your voice heard by the decision-makers whose behavior is contrary to the well-being of their employees and games. I’ve been drinking this tea for two months now, but I think it’s about time.”

It is not possible to fully verify Eric Covington’s story as we do not have access to Blizzard’s personnel files. It also seems unlikely that Kotick himself was involved in his removal and that this is again an issue of Blizzard’s management rather than Activision’s oversight (except to the extent that Blizzard’s top executive is a former Activision manager employed by Activision).

However, given the recent firing of celebrity Brian Birmingham for an equally stupid cause, and the zeal with which Blizzard President Mike Ybarra has tried to demoralize workers and urge developers to give up, the claims are sadly plausible. We doubt Blizzard will comment on the allegation as it involves the firing of an employee, but if it does, we will of course report on it.

Incidentally, Covington is not the only Activision Blizzard employee who reacted angrily to the Kotick interview. Overwatch 2 senior designer Dylan Snyder tweeted, calling the interview “absolute crap.”

“The people who work at Blizzard really want Activision’s crap out in the open for everyone to see. Activision punishes us for this by making sure that we simultaneously spout absolute bullshit while releasing what we’ve worked tirelessly to create. As of this writing, it is 100% malicious and intentional. […] I’ve seen replies saying this will make me lose my job and whatever. When I joined, I didn’t sign up to spread empty platitudes about the ATVI leadership. I joined because I believed and still believe in Team 4 and all my other friends and colleagues. You deserve the world.”

I’ve written jokes taunting the generic corporate greed for a Venture Company loot goblin (very characterful), but then the executive threw themselves face first into the joke while I focused on getting the patch done.

I’m no longer with Blizzard because of her embarrassment. pic.twitter.com/EqspeWGXCQ

— Eric Covington (@covingtown) May 31, 2023

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