Activision/Blizzard President doubles down on DEI in leaked company-wide message

One of the many conversations happening in the gaming industry surrounds Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) becoming apparent in video games, which, for those that don't know, can be the perceived inclusion of allegedly under-represented races, sexual orientations, and genders.

It should be noted that DEI is a widely used buzzword that has a very loose definition and has been translated by some in the video game industry as "woke," or in the injection of "political agendas". Regardless of how the acronym is accurately defined, some publishers/developers have taken stands on either side of the DEI fence, with Helldivers 2 CEO Johan Pilestedt writing on Twitter earlier this month that developers, if the DEI content doesn't "add to the game experience, it detracts. And games should be a pure pursuit of amazing moments."

On the other side of the fence, Activision-Blizzard is embracing DEI across its entire company, with President of Activision Publishing, Rob Kostich, writing in a now leaked company-wide message, "To be clear, this work continue to be extremely important in everything that we do. Our Inclusive Growth Team as made great strides in helping us weave inclusivity into all aspects of business."

Critics of DEI in video games have viewed their inclusion as the developers injecting a "political statement" into a game where it shouldn't be, and when it's discovered or felt to be out of place, it's sometimes perceived as if an agenda is being pushed onto gamers or the people behind the title are trying to make a statement that's inherently contentious, regardless of whether it should be controversial or not.