Leveling up for a better world

Brian Bulatao explains how Activision Blizzard stepped up its environmental, social, and governance efforts in 2022.

Photos courtesy Activision Blizzard

Over the last year across Activision Blizzard, we stepped up our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. We take the responsibility of connecting and engaging with hundreds of millions of people through epic entertainment seriously. Gaming is a cultural force, and for that force to reach as far as possible, we must attract and retain a highly talented and diverse workforce and build a welcoming and inclusive workplace. 

Our ESG priorities help us do exactly that.

As I learned in my years of public service, big goals—like the ones you’ll read about in this report—depend on attention to the details, and a culture built atop mutual respect and belonging. Whether creating the next great gaming title or accelerating a diverse and inclusive workplace, our philosophy is that progress is rooted in effort.

We are deeply proud of the progress we’ve made on our 2022 ESG initiatives, and we are committed to continuous improvement in each of our key pillars:

Championing Our People: Our goal is to create epic entertainment that reaches a variety of people, and we know that depends on epic talent from a variety of backgrounds. In 2022, we made progress toward our 2021 commitments to increase representation of women and non-binary employees by 50% over five years, further invest in vital employee benefit programs, and increase resources for training and compliance. As part of our 2021 $250 million decade-long commitment to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent, we launched Level Up U to prepare non-industry professionals to become full-time game developers. 

Advancing Diverse and Inclusive Communities: We see diversity and inclusion as foundational to our games, policies, and workforce. In 2022, we hired our first dedicated Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and appointed our first head of Inclusive Game Design (IGD) to ensure a world-class standard for game inclusion and accessibility. IGD is focused on ensuring the widest possible audience can enjoy our games, with characters and narratives that are diverse and welcoming, while promoting positive gaming community interactions. We’ve also partnered with Reboot Representation to help increase the number of Black, Latina, and Native American women in technology. 

Protecting the Planet: We believe in improving the health of the world around us, which is why, in 2021, we committed to an operational roadmap for net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (including Scope 3). In 2022, we built on this announcement by identifying proactive decarbonization initiatives and making significant progress on the use of renewable energy.

In 2023 and beyond, we will continue to advocate for our people, invest in building diverse communities, and prioritize sustainable business practices. We’re excited about the progress we’ve made, and we are grateful for the many people of Activision Blizzard that have made the successes outlined in this report possible. 

Brian Bulatao is the chief administrative officer of Activision Blizzard and chair of its ESG steering committee.

Read more

🌎 The complete 2022 ESG report from Activision Blizzard

📩 Brian Bulatao’s 2021 letter about the company’s first-ever ESG report