Some people are confusing arguments. Nobody said that they couldn’t layoff the people and still collect million dollar bonuses. Lots of people said they shouldn’t. There is a difference.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
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Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Didn't blizzard shoot themselves in the Ass this year with a Diablo game?
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Surprising to me is that they say they are going to bolster the staff of WoW. To be honest I thought they were going to scale that back and cut WoW classic as other people on here thought as well (the wow classic part anyway).
Feel bad for all the people who were laid off today.
From the comment below yours it sounds like it was Warcraft without the "World of" that will be getting additional headcount.
As a gamer I hate seeing mobile as a priority but as a business it just makes too much sense not to go that route. Most commenting in this thread are probably to blame, the amount of money spent on it and the amount of people spending would make you think that way anyways.
*If* it was esports and whatever other staff that was laid off and the development side wasn't affected then this is nothing new really. It seems this goes around pretty often. And from reports this has been in the works for months now. Not saying I like it but its part of the cycle especially after bunjie split. In matters like this, the amount of money the cfo makes is a moot point really. Not saying I agree with everything or am ok with it but you have to look at the big picture and not just one piece.
800 people layoff - yep that's gonna fall under California state mass layoff law.
On the plus side.. I am leaving Califorina for a job in another state, so one of them can have my job.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Don't confuse capitalism, with our current Crony Capitalist system. They are quite different. ActiBlizz is filled with all too many of the typical corp hacks these days. More focused on their promotions and bonus packages, than on making great games.
The old Blizzard has been fading for years. Look no further than the train wreck that is BFA as a demonstration of that sad reality. Perhaps next, they will take WoW to phones,
to tap into that Sweet Chinese cash shop pie? "Don't you people have phones?"...
I hope all of those who lost their jobs manage to land on their feet. Everyone needs to put food on their family (Thank you Bush the Lessor... ^^).
WoW goes F2P in 2020 because they weren't meeting the profit projections in 2019. Heavily monetized of course. Subscription service, optional.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
These were bloated positions , the result of a long bloated industry that is realigning itself , many positions became quite unnecessary and taking resources that can be better used else where ..
These things happen in every industry , and these folks are getting things, many do not , .
The letter also promised “a comprehensive severance package,” continued
health benefits, career coaching, and job placement assistance as well
as profit-sharing bonuses for the previous year to those who are being
laid off at Blizzard.. Very good of ATVI
Lots of people get laid off all year with no such luxuries , so please hold back the tears here...
I mean, it is great that they are offering those things, but just because things work that way doesn't mean it should. People have every right to be upset about it. It is utterly despicable behavior of a few people in suits who don't have ANYTHING to do with the game's themselves.
First its working exactly as it SHOULD work , every business in every Industry grows/expands/Hires/declines/layoff
No business has defied this yet ,Time/Tech/Labor/Market dictate this and make it so ..
Second , these suits have alot to do with the games/decisions/direction/marketing/IPs/Directionof, wether good or bad
Again, I don't care that it is the current state of things. It shouldn't be. This is a company that laid people off after a record year. This is not something that is common in the games industry and shouldn't be common. There are pretty much 2-3 companies that do this within gaming. All this does is further prove the destructive nature of these companies. Fortunately, there are a ton of fantastic companies just a step below these that don't have to deal with this non-sense.
Also, those suits have nothing to do with the games. Just the money. I am talking about how they have no input on design, testing, or community management on the ground floor.
You clearly have no experience with either economical decisions or business in general.
If you think making profit means that firing people isnt needed or better for a company, then you again.. have no clue.
If you have 10% of the company carrying it to profits, will you be like "ow, well.. 90% didnt contribute to it but we made profit, so ey... there we go"? Because thats how your business would go bankrupt.
Seriously, it is capitalism, i mentioned why CEO's make 100x more than others and why i think it is justified.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
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“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
About the article, all I can see is PR. Add that to MOBILE IS A TOP priority , and you have my above comment to sum it up , very good.
"MOBILE IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR US"
Yup. The title and body content could only have been that line, and that's about all I needed to know.
Does this mobile wasn't a priority? They spent c. $5.5B buying King after all. Must be why King's MAUs have fallen from 474M (investor presentation Nov'15) to todays 268M.
A loss of 206M.
Or maybe this is why mobile is a top priority ......
Oh they bought King? I didn't know
Prime evils to join forces, guess it makes sense.
Seriously, it is capitalism, i mentioned why CEO's make 100x more than others and why i think it is justified.
Not its not imo. In a capitalist system there is no such thing as too big to fail yet the GFC showed us that CEO's believe in capitalizing profits and socializing losses ie getting taxpayers to foot the bill for their greed/incompetence.
The system is rigged so people are tricked into believing its trickle down when in fact its funnel up. I've seen CEO's nearly bankrupt a company and still get a golden parachute and than land another nice plum job with their mates while that company had to lay off hundreds of people.
Anyone that is jelly of Blizzard right now is just weird. Some serious things are happening there that I think most people never expected (no matter how much they want to make claim to knowing).
These were bloated positions , the result of a long bloated industry that is realigning itself , many positions became quite unnecessary and taking resources that can be better used else where ..
These things happen in every industry , and these folks are getting things, many do not , .
The letter also promised “a comprehensive severance package,” continued
health benefits, career coaching, and job placement assistance as well
as profit-sharing bonuses for the previous year to those who are being
laid off at Blizzard.. Very good of ATVI
Lots of people get laid off all year with no such luxuries , so please hold back the tears here...
The reason why they got severance packages and all the continued benefits is because California falls under the WARN act - they had to do it otherwise they would have been in serious shit:
"In addition to the WARN Act, which is a federal law, several states have enacted similar acts that require advance notice or severance payments to employees facing job loss from a mass layoff or plant closing. For example, California requires advance notice for plant closings, layoffs, and relocations of 50 or more employees regardless of percentage of workforce, that is, without the federal "one-third" rule for mass layoffs of fewer than 500 employees. Also, the California law applies to employers with 75 or more employees, counting both full-time and part-time employees"
So don't be mistaken that Blizzard was doing this because they were "nice" - they did it because as a California based company they had to comply with the California modifed WARN act.
800 people layoff - yep that's gonna fall under California state mass layoff law.
They only need to provide Advance notice and training .. NOt a comprehensive severance package, continued medical,profit sharing etc , stop bending the truth to suit your tearful narrative ...... So yea awful nice of ATVI
These people should all for the most land on there feet fine , some better off than they were , all walks of life go thru this ...
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Blizzard lost his soul in 2018, especially with Mike Morhaime leaving the company.
"Bizzard is like your best friend for 20 years and suddenly.. died"
I will miss Blizzard, for sure.
About the article, all I can see is PR. Add that to MOBILE IS A TOP priority , and you have my above comment to sum it up , very good.
"MOBILE IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR US"
Yup. The title and body content could only have been that line, and that's about all I needed to know.
Yeesh, I just read too that the most prolific CM on the official Wow forums, across all forums for the last 2 years or so, was included in the firing.
Community engagement is apparently NOT in the restructuring plan.
Agree, when your WoW playerbase has been bitching for over a year now about piss poor communication, and then you go and layoff community managers..
Does not compute.
Sure it does, perhaps they are no longer interested in listening to their customers bitch?
Hell, EA customers have been pissed for years, almost totally ignored, yet made money hand over fist regardless.
Most game makers pay little attention to customer service, apparently it's only for suckers as gamers keep buying regardless how they are treated.
We built this city.
There is one problem with your hypothesis. Blizzard customer service is top notch when compared to other companies. There are other reasons to come to the conclusion that Blizzard is losing their touch, but customer service is not one of them - at least in my opinion.
AB announced 800 layoffs, 8% of their workforce - so c. 10,000 employees.
I was then going to say factor in a few for countries outside the US - on the basis that Activision Blizzard are "US based" - then I looked up King:
Headquartered in Malta with studios in Stockholm, Malmo, London, Barcelona, Berlin, and Seattle, along with offices in San Francisco, Malta, Tokyo and Bucharest.
With King having lost over 200M MAUs since AB took them over that sounds like "underperforming activities" in its ranks. They used to have 3 of the top 10 mobile games as well. So same again?
Factor in Bungee - another 500+ - and the total could be maybe 20%?
AB announced 800 layoffs, 8% of their workforce - so c. 10,000 employees.
I was then going to say factor in a few for countries outside the US - on the basis that Activision Blizzard are "US based" - then I looked up King:
Headquartered in Malta with studios in Stockholm, Malmo, London, Barcelona, Berlin, and Seattle, along with offices in San Francisco, Malta, Tokyo and Bucharest.
With King having lost over 200M MAUs since AB took them over that sounds like "underperforming activities" in its ranks. They used to have 3 of the top 10 mobile games as well. So same again?
Factor in Bungee - another 500+ - and the total could be maybe 20%?
King was an awful acquisition from the beginning in my opinion. Without the crying employees in the parking lot, I might actually accept this version of reality.
Blizzard lost his soul in 2018, especially with Mike Morhaime leaving the company.
"Bizzard is like your best friend for 20 years and suddenly.. died"
I will miss Blizzard, for sure.
About the article, all I can see is PR. Add that to MOBILE IS A TOP priority , and you have my above comment to sum it up , very good.
"MOBILE IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR US"
Yup. The title and body content could only have been that line, and that's about all I needed to know.
Yeesh, I just read too that the most prolific CM on the official Wow forums, across all forums for the last 2 years or so, was included in the firing.
Community engagement is apparently NOT in the restructuring plan.
Agree, when your WoW playerbase has been bitching for over a year now about piss poor communication, and then you go and layoff community managers..
Does not compute.
Sure it does, perhaps they are no longer interested in listening to their customers bitch?
Hell, EA customers have been pissed for years, almost totally ignored, yet made money hand over fist regardless.
Most game makers pay little attention to customer service, apparently it's only for suckers as gamers keep buying regardless how they are treated.
We built this city.
Having worked in a customer-facing professional office, there's no such thing as useless customer feedback. Good business identifies the underlying cause and addresses it as best they can. Short of mental illness, no one rages without a stimulus to incite them. A company that's unable or unwilling to dig underneath the feedback's face value is either incompetent or lazy.
Blizzard lost his soul in 2018, especially with Mike Morhaime leaving the company.
"Bizzard is like your best friend for 20 years and suddenly.. died"
I will miss Blizzard, for sure.
About the article, all I can see is PR. Add that to MOBILE IS A TOP priority , and you have my above comment to sum it up , very good.
"MOBILE IS A TOP PRIORITY FOR US"
Yup. The title and body content could only have been that line, and that's about all I needed to know.
Yeesh, I just read too that the most prolific CM on the official Wow forums, across all forums for the last 2 years or so, was included in the firing.
Community engagement is apparently NOT in the restructuring plan.
Agree, when your WoW playerbase has been bitching for over a year now about piss poor communication, and then you go and layoff community managers..
Does not compute.
Sure it does, perhaps they are no longer interested in listening to their customers bitch?
Hell, EA customers have been pissed for years, almost totally ignored, yet made money hand over fist regardless.
Most game makers pay little attention to customer service, apparently it's only for suckers as gamers keep buying regardless how they are treated.
We built this city.
Well, depends on the game and how they treat people.
One of the games I played, they found a bug where only some people were affected if they bought a package from the store, it would not process correctly and they would not get the package but they would still get billed (this was a $2.99 holiday package). They gave everyone the package for free, sent out an in game e-mail apologizing for their mistake with a link where to get a refund, and took the package down.
I was not affected, but, I was really impressed by that kind of response to the situation, they owned up to their mistake and fixed it, when all too often you deal with a game company that tries to deny they did anything wrong and forces you to jump through hoops to resolve the issue.
Just saying is all.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Comments
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
From the comment below yours it sounds like it was Warcraft without the "World of" that will be getting additional headcount.
Does not compute.
*If* it was esports and whatever other staff that was laid off and the development side wasn't affected then this is nothing new really. It seems this goes around pretty often. And from reports this has been in the works for months now. Not saying I like it but its part of the cycle especially after bunjie split. In matters like this, the amount of money the cfo makes is a moot point really. Not saying I agree with everything or am ok with it but you have to look at the big picture and not just one piece.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
You clearly have no experience with either economical decisions or business in general.
If you think making profit means that firing people isnt needed or better for a company, then you again.. have no clue.
If you have 10% of the company carrying it to profits, will you be like "ow, well.. 90% didnt contribute to it but we made profit, so ey... there we go"? Because thats how your business would go bankrupt.
https://ashesofcreation.com/r/Y4U3PQCASUPJ5SED
Greed has no limit for some people unfortunately.
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Oh they bought King? I didn't know
Prime evils to join forces, guess it makes sense.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
Hell, EA customers have been pissed for years, almost totally ignored, yet made money hand over fist regardless.
Most game makers pay little attention to customer service, apparently it's only for suckers as gamers keep buying regardless how they are treated.
We built this city.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I was then going to say factor in a few for countries outside the US - on the basis that Activision Blizzard are "US based" - then I looked up King:
Headquartered in Malta with studios in Stockholm, Malmo, London, Barcelona, Berlin, and Seattle, along with offices in San Francisco, Malta, Tokyo and Bucharest.
With King having lost over 200M MAUs since AB took them over that sounds like "underperforming activities" in its ranks. They used to have 3 of the top 10 mobile games as well. So same again?
Factor in Bungee - another 500+ - and the total could be maybe 20%?
One of the games I played, they found a bug where only some people were affected if they bought a package from the store, it would not process correctly and they would not get the package but they would still get billed (this was a $2.99 holiday package). They gave everyone the package for free, sent out an in game e-mail apologizing for their mistake with a link where to get a refund, and took the package down.
I was not affected, but, I was really impressed by that kind of response to the situation, they owned up to their mistake and fixed it, when all too often you deal with a game company that tries to deny they did anything wrong and forces you to jump through hoops to resolve the issue.
Just saying is all.
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
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