Activision Blizzard agrees to pay $18 million to settle its federal sexual harassment case

A judge has ordered Activision Blizzard to pay $18 million to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the company of fostering a sexist, discriminatory workplace. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit in September and that same afternoon, Activision Blizzard agreed to set up an $18 million fund for employees who experienced sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination at the studio. Today’s ruling approves this plan.

The fund will be distributed among people who worked at Activision Blizzard from September 1st, 2016, to today. Eligible employees and former employees have to opt-in to receive a payout, and they can submit claims relating to sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and retaliation.

Today’s ruling isn’t the end of the legal issues for Activision Blizzard, and it may even complicate efforts still underway by other agencies. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing first sued the studio in July 2021 following a two-year investigation into allegations that sexism, gender-based harassment and a “frat boy culture” pervaded the Activision Blizzard offices. That state-level lawsuit is still in progress, while the $18 million ruling today applies only to the federal case filed by the EEOC.

Anyone who signs on as a claimant in the EEOC suit will not be eligible to participate in the state’s case, at least when it comes to harassment, retaliation or pregnancy discrimination. If they have additional claims, such as pay inequities, they can bring those to the DFEH lawsuit.

The DFEH and EEOC have been battling for dominance with their lawsuits against Activision Blizzard. Lawyers for the California agency have expressed concern that a federal settlement might prevent them from pursuing additional damages at a state level. The DFEH case is scheduled to go to trial in February 2023.

“The DFEH will continue to vigorously prosecute its action against Activision in California state court,” spokesperson Fahizah Alim said last week.

Additionally, the DFEH, activists and Activision Blizzard employees have argued the $18 million figure is far too low to properly compensate all potential claimants, which could add up to hundreds of people. Communications Workers of America, the labor union backing Activision Blizzard employees during this time, called the sum “woefully inadequate” in a letter to the EEOC in October.

“This would provide the maximum settlement for only 60 workers,” the CWA letter reads. “If any significant number of workers received the maximum under federal law, there would be little available for many other workers adversely affected. We are concerned about how the EEOC got to that number and how it believes that number will be fairly distributed. Please explain.”

California’s DFEH fought against a similar ruling in the case of Riot Games. Following a 2018 class-action lawsuit claiming rampant sexual harassment and discrimination at the studio, Riot was originally ordered to pay $10 million to eligible employees. The DFEH blocked that payout, arguing it was much too small, and the amount was eventually increased to $100 million.

A spokesperson for the EEOC provided the following statement to Engadget following today’s federal ruling: “We are pleased that the judge has indicated her intent to sign the consent decree. The consent decree not only provides monetary relief to potential claimants that were impacted by sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and related retaliation at Activision Blizzard throughout the United States, but also puts in place significant injunctive relief at Activision Blizzard to prevent and address discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.”

Indie hit ‘Unpacking’ comes to PS4 and PS5 this spring

The peaceful, zen-like puzzle gameplay of Unpacking (the real game, that is) will soon be available to the PlayStation crowd. As Polygonsays, Witch Beam and Humble Games have announced that Unpacking will be available on PS4 and PS5 this spring. It’s launching alongside physical releases from Limited Run Games for the PS4, PS5 and Switch versions.

The game is already available in digital form on Macs, Switch, Windows PCs and Xbox consoles.

Unpacking was considered one of the stand-out games of 2021 precisely because it served as an antidote to the chaos and noise of the real world (and, we’d add, many other video games). All you do is unpack items as you settle into a new home — and, ultimately, a new life. The audio and visuals are relaxing by themselves, but the mechanics also encourage patience and curiosity. Throw in a subtle, near-wordless approach to storytelling and you might return just to give yourself a break.

Hackers swipe nearly $600 million from a ‘play to earn’ crypto game

Digital thieves just pulled off another major crypto heist. Motherboard has learned hackers stole 173,600 Ethereum (about $591.2 million) from the Ronin blockchain that powers Axie Infinity, a popular “play to earn” game where players can receive crypto in exchange for playing and paying some starting costs. The perpetrators reportedly exploited a backdoor in a Remote Procedure Call node from Axie creator Sky Mavis to get a signature, letting them “forge fake withdrawals” using compromised private keys.

Sky blamed the flaw on a holdover from the fall. The firm asked for help from the Axie DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) to handle free transactions and help cope with an “immense user load” in November. The move let Sky sign transactions on the DAO’s behalf until December, but the access wasn’t revoked after that point.

The company has responded by ‘pausing’ the Ronin bridge to close off avenues of attack, and has temporarily disabled the Katana decentralized exchange. It hoped to minimize near-term damage by increasing the threshold necessary for validation, but also said it was in the middle of a node migration that would leave the old system behind. Sky intends to track the stolen Ethereum with help from Chainalysis, and is contacting security teams at “major” crypto exchanges.

The theft compounds existing worries for Sky. Motherboard notes Axie Infinity has suffered from plummeting values for its NFTs and tokens in recent months, prompting reforms in a bid to keep the game afloat. An incident like could easily make things worse by not only starving the game of much-needed funds, but rattling the confidence of players.

Moment’s $100 MagSafe cage makes your iPhone filmmaking a tiny bit more pro

No matter how advanced your smartphone camera is, shaky, wobbly shots can make your videos look amateurish. This is why stabilizing your smartphone — either with a mount or a tripod — is vital to good mobile filmmaking. But if you want a more stable t…

Messenger takes a cue from Slack with an @everyone shortcut

Meta is adding a handful of features to the Messenger app that will be familiar to anyone who’s used Slack, most notably with a new @everyone function. Starting today, typing @everyone in a chat in Messenger will alert the entire group to your message — so make sure it’s a good one.

Messenger is also adding a /silent function, which ensures your message will arrive in the chat without alerting anyone, like a ghost in the night. Just type /silent before your message and you’re in sneak mode. Both @everyone and /silent commands are live on Android and iOS today.

Meta has more Messenger plans in the works. Over the coming weeks, Android and iOS Messenger users in the US will be able to use a /pay shortcut to send and receive money in-chat. On top of that, iOS users will get /gif, which drops searchable gifs directly into the chat. Messenger on Apple devices will also get /shrug and /tableflip commands, which populate the ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ emoticons, respectively.

Sennheiser’s headphones can now switch modes based on location

Sennheiser just delivered a pair of updates that could make its audio gear more compelling, particularly at the end of a long work day. To start, an upgrade to the Smart Control app for Android and iOS can automatically change your headphones’ EQ, noise cancellation levels and other settings based on your location. This isn’t a new feature in the audio world (Sony has offered this for years), but it’ll be appreciated if you want to hear colleagues at the office but tune out the world while at home.

The Smart Control revamp also offers a Sound Check feature to help the EQ match your tastes, and user account support helps you carry settings between device. Sennheiser also promises a more intuitive (not to mention sleeker-looking) interface.

The Ambeo soundbar, meanwhile, is becoming decidedly smarter. Sennheiser is launching an “Ambeo OS” platform that expands the TV speaker’s functionality. You’ll finally get AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect support to stream your music service of choice. And while you can steer the soundbar through Smart Control, you’ll also have a web interface if you’d rather navigate from your computer.

This last update won’t make the Ambeo’s $2,500 sticker easier to handle. It at least provides the kind of connectivity you’d expect for that money, though. And look at it this way: Ambeo OS could make Sennheiser’s more affordable soundbar that much more alluring when it arrives later this year.

Apple TV+ Friday Night Baseball doubleheaders start April 8th

Apple’s first Friday Night Baseball doubleheader will stream on April 8th. Announced at its recent “Peek Performance” event, the program will see Apple stream two exclusive MLB games every Friday through the end of the regular season. The first doubleh…

YouTube TV is testing 5.1-channel audio on Android TV and Roku

YouTube TV should soon add immersive sound to more platforms. The service is now testing 5.1-channel audio on Android TV (including Google TV) and Roku devices, and expects to make surround sound available on that hardware if all goes “smoothly.” The company is still working on support for Apple TV, Fire TV and game consoles, so don’t despair if your preferred platform is stuck with stereo.

At present, 5.1 audio requires either a “traditional” Chromecast (before Google TV) or a TV set from LG, Samsung or Vizio with a version of the YouTube TV app that runs at least Cobalt 20. The shows themselves need to offer surround sound, of course, but the enhancement should automatically kick in whenever it’s available.

The addition is relatively late when Hulu, Sling TV and other cord cutter services have offered some form of 5.1-channel output for a while. This might give you a reason to try YouTube TV if the audio wasn’t to your liking, though, and it’ll help make the most of your home theater setup.