Activision Blizzard got rid of a few people, and since two of them have been working on Diablo IV in higher positions, the game’s development has taken a hit.
We previously wrote about how J. Allen Brack, the previous president of Activision Blizzard, has left due to the lawsuit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, citing sexual harassment and discrimination within the company. However, the sword of Damocles has fallen on three more people, according to an insider report from Kotaku, Luis Barriga, Jesse McCree, and Jonathan LeCraft all got fired.
Barriga was the director of Diablo IV (with previously working on World of Warcraft, Diablo III, and Overwatch), McCree (whose name was used for the Overwatch character) was the lead designer of the game (and he’s been at Activision Blizzard since the mid-2000s), and LeCraft was the senior designer of World of Warcraft, which he has been working on nearly since its launch.
Kotaku couldn’t confirm the reason for the firings. Still, they likely got let go due to the DFEH lawsuit in California, as previously, LecRaft and McCree was together with Alex Afrasiabi (former World of Warcraft creative director) at BlizzCon 2013 “Cosby Suite” (alcohol and harassment without limitations). However, Activision Blizzard has confirmed the recent firings, telling Kotaku, “Luis Barriga, Jesse McCree, and Jonathan LeCraft are no longer with the company.”
And since we mentioned Diablo, let’s not forget about Diablo II: Resurrected. Even though Blizzard previously promised to include it, it isn’t going to have TCP/IP multiplayer support. It was mentioned in the beta FAQ. “TCP/IP support will not be available in the upcoming Beta or the final game. After careful deliberation, we will no longer be supporting this option as we identified potential security risks and are committed to safeguarding the player experience,” Activision Blizzard wrote.
However, Rod Fergusson’s interview with Eurogamer said something different half a year ago: “A lot of the stuff that we’re doing is what was there in the original. We’re focused on having an authentic experience. You can still connect locally through TCP IP if you want to! That was there in D2. It’ll be there in D2R. We’ve focused on ensuring that if there’s something about the core experience you loved, we’re bringing that over. But we do get a lot of benefits from being on a more secure platform.” It looks like the new platform, Battle.net, isn’t as secure.
Heads and features are rolling.
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