Activision Blizzard announced Monday that it had terminated more than three dozen employees and reprimanded another 40 in response to sexual harassment and other misconduct allegations at the videogame business.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the company in July 2021 for allegedly failing to address sexual harassment and discrimination against female staff.

According to the article, the game publisher was expected to disclose a summary of that material publicly before the holidays. However, embattled chief executive Bobby Kotick is alleged to have canceled the deal out of worry that it would exacerbate Activision's troubles.

After conducting reviews, Activision confirmed that "37 employees have left the company and another 44 have received written reprimands, formal warnings, or other disciplinary action."

The "Call of Duty" game's developer stated that it was still working on an interim update and had not yet alerted employees.

According to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, Activision has received roughly 700 reports from employees regarding workplace misconduct and other issues since July and has examined approximately 90% of them.

Activision contested the figure but provided no additional explanation.

Activision, according to DFEH, promoted a "frat boy" culture replete with discrimination and sexual harassment.

Former Activision president J. Allen Brack resigned shortly after the DFEH suit accused him of taking "no effective remedial actions" to address sexual harassment.

Jesse Meschuk, Activision's senior human resources officer, as well as Diablo 4 game director Luis Barriga, lead designer Jesse McCree, and World of Warcraft designer Jonathan LeCraft, have all left the company.

The Wall Street Journal reported in November that Kotick had been aware of many of the worst cases of mistreatment for years and may have shielded some employees accused of harassment.

Activision's stock price has dropped almost 30% since late July, and around 20% of the company's approximately 10,000 employees have signed a petition calling for Kotick's resignation - something he reportedly told senior executives he would do if he could not "quickly fix" the company's culture problems.

Activision's board of directors has published a statement expressing its support for Kotick.

In a New York Times interview published last week, Xbox chief executive Phil Spencer said that the platform's relationship with Activision has changed as a result of recent charges, but that he does not believe it is his responsibility to "punish other firms" for their crimes.