A former IT security analyst at Sony Interactive Entertainment, makers of the PlayStation, recently filed a lawsuit in California alleging unlawful gender discrimination and retaliation. The fired employee seeks to certify a class of all females employed at the company for the past four years, suggesting that all may have been harmed by Sony’s discriminatory practices. The lawsuit comes on the heels of alarming allegations across the video games industry, including claims of sexual harassment, misconduct, and other forms of discrimination at video game industry giants such as Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard.

The lawsuit against Sony alleges a range of unlawful conduct, including discrimination in pay and promotion as well as retaliation and wrongful termination. According to the complaint filed by former Sony security analyst Emma Majo, women at the company were given inferior pay to similarly-situated male employees, were regularly denied promotions for which they were qualified, and were otherwise denied equal compensation. She alleges that she personally saw gender bias perpetrated against women in the workplace, including gender-biased comments made by managers (such as complaining about female performance due to “issues at home,” comments never levied against male employees) and the presence of managers who would not speak to any woman with the door closed.

Majo alleges that she in particular “was demoted, because of gender bias, because she is a female, and because she spoke up about gender bias.” She worked for Sony for close to six years and never received a single promotion. Even though she was given a subordinate for much of that time, she was never given an official management role; she claims she was “effectively demoted” after asking about a promotion. Her allegations indicate that her experience was far from unique among women at the company during her tenure. The complaint notes that even Sony’s HR department deliberately created resistance to women seeking promotion.

Majo also claims that she was terminated on the basis of gender bias and retaliation for speaking up about the gender bias she identified within and reported to the company. According to the complaint, Majo raised her discrimination concerns to the company with a signed statement in 2021. Shortly thereafter, she was notified that she was being terminated. Sony claimed that Majo was being fired because an entire department was being eliminated. According to Majo’s complaint, however, Sony’s reasons were blatantly untrue, not the least because “she was not even a member of the department being dissolved.”

Majo’s allegations are not, unfortunately, unique to Sony. The video game industry has been rocked by similar, and worse, allegations levied at other industry leaders. Major game companies like Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Riot, responsible for mainstay franchises such as Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed, are dealing with an outpouring of complaints about toxic work environments. Blizzard, for example, has already seen its President, the Executive Producer of one of its major franchises, and its Chief Legal Officer depart from the company in recent months following investigations announced by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Developers and publishers across the video game industry are facing a reckoning following years of discrimination, harassment, and abuse. Hopefully, the upheaval signals a shift toward more accountability and equality across the industry, along with a reevaluation of industry working conditions in general.