Activision Blizzard - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Activision Blizzard is Medium Risk.

Activision Blizzard is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company elevates merit, excellence, and integrity ahead of race and identity-based policies. Activision Blizzard occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	High Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	Medium Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	Lower Risk
Funding	High Risk
Political Actions	Lower Risk

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

In 2019, Activision Blizzard temporarily canceled the streaming services of one of its star players in a company-owned e-sports league for criticizing China’s treatment of protesters in Hong Kong (1). He received a one-year ban.

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Activision Blizzard does not discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs. The company’s charitable giving focus areas are “veterans, disaster relief, and various social issues” (1)(2).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

America First Legal filed a letter with the EEOC requesting a civil rights investigation into Activision Blizzard over discriminatory practices in hiring (1)(2). Activision Blizzard protects its employees against viewpoint discrimination (3).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Activision Blizzard has not supported ideological causes or policies (1).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Activision Blizzard provides a benefits package for employees that covers travel/lodging costs for an abortion (1)(2). The company pledged to match donations to various racial justice organizations, and gift-matching funds have not been disclosed (3). The company has pledged up to $4 million to Black Lives Matter and related causes (4)(5). Activision Blizzard previously sponsored the LA Pride parade (6). Overwatch 2, a game made by Activision Blizzard, was a Platinum Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for controversial sex and gender ideology, including “gender transition” drugs and surgeries for minors, through legislation, litigation, advertising, and PR campaigns. The organization also hosts online chatrooms that allow adults to communicate with minors as young as 13 about sexually explicit topics. Adults in these chatrooms have encouraged minors to adopt transgender identities and withhold this information from their parents (7)(8)(9)(10)(11). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (12).