Jen Oneal quits company after 3 months in lead role

Things are not going well for Blizzard, in-fact, the company recently announced that it had suffered yet another staff loss. This time, co-lead, Jen Oneal has quit her role alongside Mike Ybarra after 3 months. This in the wake of the sexual harassment lawsuit by a California state agency over the summer, paints a bleak picture for the company’s future at this point in time.

Oneal, a new member of the company, promoted alongside relative newcomer Mike Ybarra, sent out an email to the employee’s moments before the company’s quarterly earning’s call.

Oneal’s email was short and to the point, it stated that, “I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year.”

Oneal’s move comes because she wants to make a bigger impact on the gaming industry as a whole, and she’s “not totally sure what form that will take.” She also stated that she’s making the move, “not because I am without hope for Blizzard, quite the opposite.”

Following this news, Activision Blizzard announced that it would be donating $1 million to Women in Games International (a non-profit) where Oneal is a board member. With Oneal’s departure, this now leaves Mike Ybarra in the role of leader and he assumes full responsibility of Blizzard at this time.

Several members of the company, who wished to remain anonymous fearing retaliation had this to say:

“It’s suspicious to all of us.”

“That’s a really bad sign for the state of things. Her and Mike were literally just hired.”

Oneal came to Blizzard from Vicarious Visions, in January, and Ybarra arrived November of 2019 after his 19-year stint at Xbox.

People were pleased to see Oneal join the company, and many spoke highly of her with employees stating that, “She’s run a diversity-focused company that touts good values.” And that, “Jen Oneal was always the perfect choice to replace Brack.”

This loss to the company also comes in the wake of two delays, both Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV have been delayed to unspecified dates in the future. With other members of the company quitting or being let go, the future for Blizzard looks pretty stormy indeed and we’re sure that the company hasn’t seen the last of the allegations either.

Stock for Activision Blizzard has dipped by about 10 percent following all of this. Activision’s own CEO: Bobby Kotick said during the Tuesday earnings call that the media’s coverage of the company has been, “Negative, despite our progress.”