DICE Awards Show Host Gets On Stage, Says ‘Fuck Bobby Kotick’

Thus, the DICE Awards, the video game industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, took place last night. Plenty of games has taken home trophies, including Hazelight Studios. She takes two, which won its second Game of the Year award, but that may not have been the biggest news of the evening. No, people were waiting to find out what kind of mess could happen on stage. Earlier in the day, before the event had unfolded, Funny co-founder and industry hypeman Greg Miller stated on Twitter that he would use his airtime in front of industry-leading developers to “poppy[ing] enemies .”Well, he said something that got the crowd applauding.

Bethesda Executive Producer Todd Howard opened the evening with a monologue about “the turmoil and uncertainty in the world,” particularly that terrible events are unfolding in Ukraine. He talked about wordle and Sims before handing over the stage to Miller and co-host Jessica Chobot. Things got edgier from that point on when Miller called in Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick.

More: Everything that happened after Activision Blizzard filed a lawsuit

After a joke about Cyberpunk 2077, Metroid Horrors, and NFTs, Miller said: “fuck Bobby Kotick,” to applause from the audience. It was a brief but critical moment, especially since The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley was criticized for refusing to name names in December openly. Generally, while many prominent figures in the gaming industry are willing to denounce the general idea of ​​harassment or uphold the values ​​of diversity, it is far less common to hear any details about what the remarks were in response to or who the bad actors are causing harassment are. There may be problems. This does not mean that such remarks cannot be thoughtful or pointed: previously at DICE, EA Senior Vice President and COO Laura Miele spared no words when she said, “Leaders who don’t live up to basic standards should go .”But it’s definitely unusual to stick names like Miller did, especially on such a public platform.

Miller said to Kotaku via email that while he was willing to discuss with the show’s producers and writers, including such clear-cut criticism in their speech, not only did he not have to, but he was praised for being so open.

“As we got closer and closer to the DICE Awards, I knew I wanted the monologue to say something real about both NFTs and the abuses rampant in the industry have committed,” Miller said. “I saw Jeff get a response from the Game Awards for not naming names, so I was willing to fight to get stuff like that in.

“As for the audience, I don’t think they expected us to be so hard on,” Miller continued. “There was the usual laughter and groans, but a stunned silence was added to them. Everyone who came up to me later said that they liked it and supported the idea – no one told me that I was wrong.

Kotaku reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment.

More: Report: Bobby Kotick has two secret companies making big donations to the Republicans

Miller is not wrong. The maligned CEO has been in the headlines for months for various reasons, but one of the most damning was Wall Street Journal report about Kitty threatening to kill an assistant via voice mail. He has always been an assholeapparently Downplaying Activision Blizzard’s Sexual Harassment Issues till he seeks acquisition from Microsoft just days after the harassment report was filed. He was allegedly responsible for preventing those who committed sexual dit accusations and harassment due to being fired, as well as being crappy towards women. He is the epitome of a scumbag, an example of the worst aspects of the industry.

It’s amazing to see dignitaries not only demanding the best from the gaming industry but rightly condemning those who perpetuate harmful workplace conditions. Things won’t change until there are enough voices actively fighting for it. The only way to end violence is to confront it.

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