The Press Stories
Context: This week, Astro Gaming and the U.S. Army seem to have ended their Call of Duty League sponsorship. This appears to be another loss to the Activision blizzard amid a lawsuit alleging that it was a company for widespread discrimination and sexual harassment.
Charlie Intel discovered yesterday that the Astro Gaming logo had disappeared from the Call of Duty League (CDL) site. He was there on August 11th. Earlier today, the U.S. military emblem also disappeared. Jenny leaves the Call of Duty League with four sponsors: Gaming, Scuff, Mountain Dew and USAA.
It comes a week before the Call of Duty League weekend in Los Angeles from August 19-22. The CDL website calls it “the most epic moment in the Call of Duty sports”.
Astro and the U.S. military have not yet stated a reason to end their partnership with CDL, but they are not the first companies to stop sponsoring Activision Blizzard since the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against the company last month. It is said to have perpetuated the “Fraud Boy” culture of widespread sexual harassment and discrimination.
Last year, Astro announced it was extending its CDL sponsorship until the 2022 season as the league’s official headset and mixcomp.
Last week, T-Mobile pulled its sponsorship from the CDL and Overwatch league. Competing overwatch also appears to be sponsoring sponsorships such as Coca Cola, Cheese-It Groves and Brinkles. The leader of the blizzard and three senior developers left the company.
According to the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard employees earned fewer jobs than their male counterparts and were slowly promoted and quickly fired. The women in the company had to constantly retreat against unwanted sexual comments, trial and error and other advances. This prompted Activision Blizzard staff to walk out at the end of last month in a call for change.
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