Summary
California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) has settled its gender discrimination lawsuit againstActivision Blizzardfor $54 million. The lawsuit alleged the gaming company had a culture of sexual harassment, an accusation that has followedActivision Blizzardover the past few years. However, now it appears the California regulator’s high-profile case has finally been settled.
Back in 2021, California’s CRD, formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, filed its case against Activision accusing the company of fostering a “frat boy” culture.The Activision Blizzard lawsuit alleged women were subjected to sexual harassmentand gender-based discrimination. Shortly after the filing, the company saw employee walkouts along with the resignations of high-profile staffers like then-Blizzard President and SVP of HR. Additionally, reports claimed that company CEO Bobby Kotick had been aware of the allegations for a few years prior to the lawsuit.
As per apress release from the CRD, the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard has reached an agreement to settle for approximately $54 million. If approved by the court, $45,750,000 of the total will go towards a settlement fund dedicated to worker compensation. A notable part of this means women who worked for Activision Blizzard as employees or contractors between June 18, 2025 and Jul 11, 2025 may be eligible for pay.
As part of the settlement of the2021 Activision Blizzard lawsuit, the CRD also states that “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations” of systemic or widespread sexual harassment at the company. More importantly, the CRD is to amend its complaint to drop the sexual misconduct allegations and will only include gender discrimination claims.
Of course, the California lawsuit was only one of the few cases that made it to public space in recent years. Following CRD’s filing, Activision Blizzard was hit with more accusations. In 2022, ajudge approved an $18 million settlement by Activision Blizzardwith the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a separate lawsuit that alleged the company of sexual misconduct and discrimination.
The recent settlement with the California regulator comes at a time whenMicrosoft closed its $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. Incidentally, the Xbox maker first announced its intention to purchase Activision Blizzard just months after the CRD filed its lawsuit against the company. Now, with the deal closed, it’s likely that Microsoft may be looking to clean things up at Activision Blizzard, particularly where discrimination and sexual harassment accusations are concerned. In any case, time will tell how the gaming company will continue to address the issues following the settlement with the CRD.
