Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
ATVI Investor Call Reveals High Profits While Simultaneously Laying Off 8% of Blizzard's Workforce
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Activision Blizzard Q4 2018 Investors Call Begins & Rumored Layoffs Have Begun - MMORPG.com News
The Activision Blizzard Investor Relations call is underway and Kotaku is reporting that the layoff process has started with employees being informed today. "We didn't execute as well as we had hoped in 2018 and fell below what we might expect. We didn't achieve the player reach and goals we set for 2018." said Bobby Kotick. We are blogging key takeaways from the investor call so head through the jump.
Post edited by SBFord on
Comments
BFA sucks. Don't try to dance around it and blame it on the usual after expansion exodus.
The company said it would be cutting mainly non-game-development departments and bolstering its development staff for franchises like Call of Duty and Diablo.
It sucks to be laid off, of course, but the increases to staff actually developing games and not just publishing or propping eSports sounds alright to me.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
It's the first investor call I've ever listened to from a company of Activision-Blizzard's size that didn't announce a new game or expansion. Literally nothing new in 2019.
They will definitely be adding more devs to push out more content more quickly, but time will tell how that will translate over time. Honestly, it all felt like such PR speak that it made my head hurt.
Brack sounded out of his depth, IMO.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
They sound like what most of us have been thinking: A company that's lost it's way and in a changing market at that!
"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.
As of today I’m no longer an employee of @Blizzard_Ent. Wasn’t my choice. I wanted to retire here. I was just laid off from my dream job.
Probably not best for me to tweet right now but it was an honor being your CM @Warcraft community. I love all of you.
Has Blizzard ever announced some new game or expansion in those calls? I may be wrong but their MO has always struck me as never revealing anything new unless it's at Blizzcon and almost fully cooked.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Ythisens was like the only good CM too.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Yet the ones at the top will collect their million dollar bonuses.
Sad.
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
Put your faith in trickle down Reaganomics and make "union" a dirty word and this is what you get.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Mobile somethingsomething Mobile somethi gsomethingsomething MOBILE.
I think they might be planning on going hard to mobile.
As a business, they know where the money is, and as a business, they will chase it. Reguardless of what you, I or anyone else thinks they should do.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
Investors can understand that, everyone knows that's where the BIG profits are !
Internal.
Not included in the 800 jobs being "let go" is Bungee - an external resource so not counted in the numbers, albeit a resource that Activision Blizzard were funding to produce game(s) that Activision Blizzard were then selling.
But knowing that this is how the company behaves... prospective employees should keep that in mind before joining them.
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
Not all AAA studio/publishers have these yearly things. Blizz, Bethesda and SC are actually the only ones I can think of. It's certainly not required but after establishing the pattern, breaking the pattern would look like they're really in dire straights. Does any company want to be perceived that way?
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED