Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news.
Human rights – ArenaNet and NCsoft have lent their voices – or at least their Twitter accounts – to support of health autonomy for women and other birthing people in the wake of the leak of a SCOTUS draft that appears to overturn longstanding precedent supporting federal abortion rights. Tweets issued by the companies last night read: “Your Body. Your right.” A massive Guild Wars 2 subreddit thread on the topic has since been locked, but the support for ArenaNet is loud and clear.
— ArenaNet (@ArenaNet) May 5, 2022
Blizzard – Blizzard announced a new hire last night in the form of Jessica Martinez, who will build the new role of Blizzard’s Vice President, Head of Culture. “Jessica and the Blizzard leadership team will be responsible for growing and implementing our culture strategy, ensuring alignment across all teams and functions, and revamping learning and talent development programs,” Blizzard says. Martinez was previously Chief of Staff at the Walt Disney Company.
Nexon – This past spring, we noted the sad news that Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju had passed away unexpectedly at the age of only 54. Nexon has now announced that Kim’s widow, Yoo Jung-Hyun, has been appointed as CEO. Yoo joined Nexon in 1995, owns over 30% of the company as its largest investor, and spent the last 12 years as the company’s statutory auditor, according to GIbiz.
