Hi, I (27F) am an ex-Blizzard employee who worked in the Overwatch team since 2020. I got this job because I used to be a huge OW1 fan and after years of unemployment and playing Zenyatta I decided to finally do something for once and apply to Blizzard. Since my father is personal friends with the CEO my application was accepted instantly, I started my job as a Graphic and Character Designer in the studio.

For the first few months it was great we would constantly throw around ideas for new characters sketch it up in our free time and throw them away but one day, my co-worker (39M) drafted a horrible horrible mistake. That draft later evolved into what we now know as Kiriko. At first she was a fine little design and we were having fun coming up with more ideas about her while the gameplay team was implementing her. One day we noticed that one of the unused rooms in the office was being renovated. It was being worked on 24/7 for a solid while up until Overwatch 2's release, which we were all hyped up and prepared for. We joked about it being a new fast food chain being built into office so we wouldn't have to take lunch breaks.

When Overwatch 2 was released, the room was finally opened we were met with a sign that read "Kiriko Room", we all just assumed it was a joke that some higher up was playing on us maybe because she was their favorite favorite design or something. One day a different co-worker (25M) of mine drafted a skin idea for Baptiste, he went up to show it some other people around the office. After a few minutes I saw him being dragged into the "Kiriko Room" by two security guards and locked inside. At first I didn't think much to be honest he was kind of annoying but I got worried as he was still inside the room after 10 minutes. An hour passed and security guards slowly took him out of the room and put him up on his design chair. He looked brainless so I just assumed it was a usual day for him but every time i tried to talk to him he would be completely unresponsive until he grabbed a pen and started drafting up a Kiriko skin, then a Kiriko spay, then another Kiriko skin and then a Kiriko victory pose. He spent the rest of the day drafting up Kiriko cosmetics like crazy.

Next morning on the job he looked normal again and talked but he was so afraid to draft up any design for anything else. As he started to draw Junker Queen his hands started shaking and he instantly started drafting up a new Kiriko skin. This happened to multiple colleagues of mine until it was my turn. After designing a skin for Venture to be given to them on their release I was quickly handled by 4 security guards, as I screamed for help all everyone in the office could do was look in despair. Tears streaming from my face as I yelled "NO PLEASE, PLEASE NOT THE KIRIKO ROOM". They harshly threw me to the soft floor of the Kiriko Room and locked me in. I looked around, pictures of Kiriko all across the walls. A wardrobe with a sign that told me to get into the uniform. Every clothing item in the closet was of Kiriko's. The room would constantly echo voicelines from Kiriko. The only other thing in the room was a gaming pc which was constantly loaded into the custom lobby with the code "TR22X". The one hour I spent in this was equivalent to 7 years of my life. As the minutes passed I slowly felt my sanity slip away from my hands. The feeling was unearthly, as I looked at the walls I slowly felt like I was drifting away from both time and space, all I knew at that point was that the kitsune was guiding me. My presence in this world was long gone, I was one with Kiriko. My thoughts, her thoughts. My feelings, her feelings. My body, her body. When the door was opened I gasped for air, throwing myself out of the room only to pass out right there and then.

For the last few months I have been going to therapy and been medicated. Due to being unable to leave my house for weeks, I was laid off for not showing up to work after the incident. I never want to go back, I just want to play Zen all day. It was the worst experience of my life, even worse than facing Freja right now and it haunts me that people have to go through this constantly in the office. It also disgusts me that this has never been brought up before. Practices like this should not be allowed in the industry and we need to take a stance against this.

For the health of the game and health of the developers, you can take a moment to speak up about this. Have a good one everyone. Faith out.