Another day, another ActiBlizz lawsuit
Yesterday, the US Department Of Justicefiled a civil suitagainst Activision Blizzard, accusing the publisher’s Competitive Balance Tax of capping esports players’ wages and penalisingOverwatchandCall Of Dutyleague teams if they exceeded the salary cap.
Like other sports leagues,Overwatchand COD teams remained competitive by offering higher pay to attract and retain the best players. The DOJ say ActiBlizz’s rules had the “effect of substantially lessening competition for players by suppressing player compensation… Teams were fined if their total player compensation exceeded a threshold set by Activision each year.” The lawsuit notes that competitive leagues have “generated hundreds of millions” for Activision via sponsorship revenue, streaming deals with YouTube, and a deal with Disney to broadcast the OW League on subsidiaries like ESPN and ABC.
Traditional sports leagues have similar rules in place; they also have player unions who negotiate these pay caps. The DOJ draws the line here because “professional esports players - like all workers - deserve the benefits of competition for their services.”
Alongside the lawsuit, the DOJ proposed a settlement for the case which would forbid the publisher from imposing similar rules - ones that capped player wages or penalised teams based on pay - in the future.
Activision Blizzard’s recent history isn’t particularly union-friendly, and by that I mean the company has been hit with two unfair labour charges, accusing the company ofunion busting, and suppressing discussions around working conditions. Maybe the publisher was quick to settle the case due to theirincreasingly likelyacquisition by Microsoft.
Activision Blizzard are currently the subject of a number oflegal actions,labour disputesand allegations ofworkplace harassment. Rock Paper Shotgun will continue to write about these issues, as well as covering Activision Blizzard games as part of our commitment to cover subjects of interest to our readers. The latest news can always be found under ourActivision Blizzardtag.
