"World of Warcraft" players are gathering by the hundreds in the game to protest Activision Blizzard, which has been sued by the state of California for sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and running a workplace tainted by "frat boy culture." Players from both factions have gathered in the city of Olivos, where hundreds are sitting quietly on the steps leading to the inn, discussing the lawsuit and expressing their anger and dismay over the allegations.

The protests seem to have spread to other servers, initially organized by the Moon Guard and the role-playing guild Fence Macabre on the Wyrmrest Accord server. The guild is also raising funds for the Black Girls Code, a non-profit organization that helps women of color enter the tech industry. Already Fence Macabre has raised $3,500.

"As an indigenous queer, seeing people being mistreated in an industry that is conditioned against them has always been something I've been passionate about raising awareness about," Hinahina, a board member of Fence Macabre, told me.

"Fence Macabre as a whole has always supported their values of supporting and uplifting marginalized people because I am their second in command."

A player named Hina Hina Gray is one of the protest organizers and serves as an "anchor" who invites participants into the raid group so they can physically see each other. To maintain game server stability, Warcraft dynamically controls the visible population in crowded spaces and automatically phases players out; Hinahina and other players work around this by keeping players in large groups of up to 40 people so that protesters can remain visible to each other.

According to Hinahina, hundreds of players have gathered in Olivos since this morning to join the protest. '[The community] is very supportive,' she said. 'We've gone way beyond our charity goals and we're going to keep going as long as people are here. The overwhelming feeling is one of solidarity and strong compassion for the victims and survivors of abuse at Activision Blizzard."

One of the reasons players like Hina Hina decided to protest in-game, as opposed to other methods like organizing blackouts, is because they are "sub-locked". Most of us have cancelled our subscriptions and are using our remaining game time to occupy server space and raise awareness."

In parallel, however, players on the WoW subreddit are venting their anger at Activision Blizzard and its treatment of its employees; in a thread about the lawsuit with over 5,800 comments, many people have expressed their anger and disgust. Some of them, like Alex Afrasiabi, directly name Blizzard executives. He was WoW's creative director for years until he quietly left the company in 2020. As one commenter wrote, "His abrupt resignation last summer has now hit home in a slightly different way."

The text of the WoW subreddit readership numbers, which can be modified by Reddit moderators, now reads: "2,150,693 people are fed up with Blizzard.

For many players, including Hina Hina, the allegations have also dredged up many issues about WoW that have been smoldering under the surface for years. I wish I could say that my perception has changed dramatically because I am a Native Hawaiian and have already seen how Blizzard handles stories coded with indigenous people and other PoC's, but this one goes to the heart of why they could not write these stories and concepts well." seems to be getting to the heart of the matter," she tells me. "I also have a problem with the way Blizzard coded "monstrous" races with stereotypical PoC traits as if they were picked out of multiple real-world genetics, effectively establishing them as savage "others" in the game. "

A thread trending on the WoW subreddit, simply titled "Hypocrisy," links to an image of a statue outside Blizzard's headquarters that reads "Every voice matters" juxtaposed with an image of Blizzard's Hearthstone pro, Blitzchung linked to an image juxtaposed with the headline "Blizzard bans Hearthstone pro Blitzchung for aiding Hong Kong protests.

Players are fed up and angry, and those gathered in Olivos to protest want change. I believe that references to Afrasiabi and other employees who contributed to Activision Blizzard's toxic work culture should be removed from all games. I believe Activision Blizzard needs to take ownership of the harms and narratives they have enforced and thus used to inform their work with the intent of selling content. Those who caused this harm should be fired without severance pay (including those who had the power to do something and were aware but did not) and those who were harmed and whom Activision Blizzard failed should be given personal redress and compensation for the trauma the company forced upon them ."

"It's their company, but the community built it. They need us more than we need them."

Thank you, Polygon.