Activision Blizzard, ONCE AGAIN, Plans to Lay Off a Lot of People | MMORPG.com

System · September 29

Activision Blizzard, ONCE AGAIN, Plans to Lay Off a Lot of People | MMORPG.com

Activision Blizzard aims to lay off about 400 people across several studios, development teams, and role types in the coming months.

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urriel1970 · September 29

what is going on...something is up

uriel_mafess · September 29

From "Record profits" to "Record profits" until final bankruptcy. You gotta love crony social-capitalism.

strawhat0981 · September 29

This is the first wow expac i havent bought and really dont plan to.

Scot · September 29

I do remember when I questioned this acquisition as just another big company gobbling up the competition. "Oh no!" I was told Microsoft does not do that, they help the companies they absorb prosper. Hmmm not looking like that now.

I also remember all the fuss from the regulatory bodies about this making MS too big, well if you take over a company and slash its staff what is it going to be able to produce that makes MS too big?

I have one caveat on my explanation which may be the primary answer and the previous reasons are just minor, the whole of gaming is taking a down turn and it is so long past Covid it can't be that. Gamers are not putting as much to live service as they used to and studios seem even more cautious when it comes to forking up the cash for a new game. Bad times for gaming.

Chaserz · September 29

This roaring economy, the USA is in! People don't have as much disposable income to buy games, even. Every week, a new national chain or business announces their closings. Except people on the government, borrow and print, gravy trains.

Dattelis · September 29

Typical Blizzard, "Holidays are coming up! YOU LOSE A JOB! YOU LOSE A JOB! YOU LOSE A JOB! THE ONES REMAINING CAN DO THEIR WORK! HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!"

Terazon · September 29

Blizzard has had a ton of payroll bloat for years (how many projects have they been attached to only to hear they were canceled?) and when Microsoft manages the company like they should have been managed to begin with, smaller teams produced with an umbrella producer style, they are labeled the villain.
It is obvious many here did not major in business.
Microsoft is cleaning up the operational mess that Blizzard built with poor management for years now.
I suggest look at how companies who take over companies through acquisition in other industries conduct a turnaround in operational efficiency.
What MS is doing is what needs to be done.
Acti-Blizz was an organisational nightmare.
Good on them.

Hartack · September 29

If they games I liked

HAD 400 people on staff

it'd probably be a lot harder to bag on them all over the internet!

Support Small Development!

Enjoy your game!

IceAge · September 29

Scot said:

I do remember when I questioned this acquisition as just another big company gobbling up the competition. "Oh no!" I was told Microsoft does not do that, they help the companies they absorb prosper. Hmmm not looking like that now.

I also remember all the fuss from the regulatory bodies about this making MS too big, well if you take over a company and slash its staff what is it going to be able to produce that makes MS too big?

I have one caveat on my explanation which may be the primary answer and the previous reasons are just minor, the whole of gaming is taking a down turn and it is so long past Covid it can't be that. Gamers are not putting as much to live service as they used to and studios seem even more cautious when it comes to forking up the cash for a new game. Bad times for gaming.

Do you believe that this is thanks to MS? Nope. Is thanks to Activision role in messing things up. I would say starting from 2015 onwards. Mike Morhaime leaving the company in 2018 was precisely because that reason.

Blaming MS for the layoffs is ..silly.

Also OP, you seem waaaay affected by this. Maybe start realizing that layoff happens in all industries not only in the industry you are working on? Yes, is bad, but if you were in charge at a company which was bad managed, or .. just not doing great, you would do the same to cut costs.

Terazon said:

Microsoft is cleaning up the operational mess that Blizzard built with poor management for years now.

Exactly this, but I would say is thanks to Activision for interfering in Blizzard games.

Angrakhan · September 29

Verizon recently laid off about 4800 in a voluntary separation package deal. I didn't see any headlines or capital letters about it. It's not limited to Blizzard or even the gaming sector. Heck I could go take pictures of the local mall are where there's more for lease signs than open signs. Y'all need to try decaf.

Antarious · September 29

Scot said:

I do remember when I questioned this acquisition as just another big company gobbling up the competition. "Oh no!" I was told Microsoft does not do that, they help the companies they absorb prosper. Hmmm not looking like that now.

I also remember all the fuss from the regulatory bodies about this making MS too big, well if you take over a company and slash its staff what is it going to be able to produce that makes MS too big?

I have one caveat on my explanation which may be the primary answer and the previous reasons are just minor, the whole of gaming is taking a down turn and it is so long past Covid it can't be that. Gamers are not putting as much to live service as they used to and studios seem even more cautious when it comes to forking up the cash for a new game. Bad times for gaming.

As someone that has put time into some Blizzard games over the last couple of years... there are a LOT of people that should lose their jobs yet haven't somehow. The only way for Microsoft to help "Blizzard" would be getting rid of the toxic, unprofessionl and untalented workforce and somehow compel actual talent to join the team. With the goal of creating games that people actually want to play. When Blizzard accidentally has a hit in recent years the relative Dev Team seems to purposely drive people away... so yes the only way to "help" is to get rid of the crap with a big /flush and then rebuild.

A couple of decades ago I would have happily played a Blizzard game. I would still play off/on over the years but it was never what it once was. So it's not that I just played some games again the last couple years... I've played them for a long time, but it is easy to see the lack of actual dev talent. They should also make a policy to get them off of Social Media like Twitter/X and have them use their actual forums AND to actually communicate. They obviously ignore feedback to follow whatever idiot plan they come up with as players leave in droves and that's why you end up with server consolidations. Why would you employ people so toxic and stupid that they kill super popular products until they are consolidated down to 2 servers. That is also stupid blah blah

OldKingLog · September 29

Angrakhan said:

Verizon recently laid off about 4800 in a voluntary separation package deal. I didn't see any headlines or capital letters about it. It's not limited to Blizzard or even the gaming sector. Heck I could go take pictures of the local mall are where there's more for lease signs than open signs. Y'all need to try decaf.

Image: https://intellizence.com/storage/2024/06/Intellizence-Layoff-2024.png

Slapshot1188 · September 29

The problem is that people who work at companies that undergo layoffs stick around. They count themselves lucky that they weren't directly affected and keep on working.

The smart thing to do is to use that as a big flashing warning sign, and work your tail off to find another place of business. If enough people did that, and the 1000 layoffs turned into 10000 unplanned folks leaving over 3 months, then layoffs would go back to being a truly last ditch effort to save a company. Today they are often just a way to tweak short-term results.

Raskbuck · September 29

I get that this is just an opinion piece, but I question if having a palpable bias on full display is a professional look. I'd expect that from a Tumblr blog post or a Twitter thread.

riningear · September 29

There's a bunch of you I can reply to here and the underlying response would still be, "It's hard to neutrally report that it's goddamn ugly out there in every sector without feeling like I'm going insane for being neutral."

Robokapp · September 30

layoffs at the end of a development cycle make sense. There's less development needed.

Ginaz · September 30

Ubisoft is next.

Ginaz · September 30

riningear said:

There's a bunch of you I can reply to here and the underlying response would still be, "It's hard to neutrally report that it's goddamn ugly out there in every sector without feeling like I'm going insane for being neutral."

But Biden told us the economy is doing great??? Not that I have any faith the other guy is doing to do any better.

Kyleran · September 30

Ginaz said:

riningear said:

There's a bunch of you I can reply to here and the underlying response would still be, "It's hard to neutrally report that it's goddamn ugly out there in every sector without feeling like I'm going insane for being neutral."

But Biden told us the economy is doing great??? Not that I have any faith the other guy is doing to do any better.

By the usual markers it is doing great, 4.2 % unemployment is within target range of 3% to 5%.

Inflation for last 12 months is at 2.5%, way down from a few years ago post COVID.

Even mortgage rates have been heading back down some.

Neoyoshi · September 30

I mean....

There is no real healthy context that would probably satisfy any reader; no one likes losing a job position, but man, do these stories ever look into what the rehire process looks like?

Scot · September 30

Terazon said:

Blizzard has had a ton of payroll bloat for years (how many projects have they been attached to only to hear they were canceled?) and when Microsoft manages the company like they should have been managed to begin with, smaller teams produced with an umbrella producer style, they are labeled the villain.
It is obvious many here did not major in business.
Microsoft is cleaning up the operational mess that Blizzard built with poor management for years now.
I suggest look at how companies who take over companies through acquisition in other industries conduct a turnaround in operational efficiency.
What MS is doing is what needs to be done.
Acti-Blizz was an organisational nightmare.
Good on them.

We don't know the roles of those who have gone so it is hard to assess how much payroll bloat there was, but any large organisation has some of course. I see your points, but how many more people will get laid off before you think it is more than restructuring?

What I will be looking for is what "Blizzard" produces from here on out, if we see very little I will stand by my remarks.

waveslayer · September 30

to those saying, Biden told us the economy is great...the economy is great or all these corporations would not be reporting record profit quarter after quarter, its not occasionally and some of them, its every report and all corporations.

Investers want to see profit and every quarter they want more profit then the last quarter...so a CEO has to produce profit and constant growth of that profit, a time comes when the market reaches its peak, how does the CEO create profit growth from thin air...start slashing the company, creates short term growth allowing the CEO to earn millions for another year or so, but eventually the CEO will get let go(with a multi million $ severance package) becuase the growth stops or slows, then another CEO will come in and rinse repeat

On top of the profit and profit growth cycle, gaming is being hit hard by the AI bug, why pay someone when you can pay them to come up with thier replacement, a replacement that never tires, never complains, never askes for a dime of pay or healthcare etc.....

Terazon · September 30

Scot said:

Terazon said:

Blizzard has had a ton of payroll bloat for years (how many projects have they been attached to only to hear they were canceled?) and when Microsoft manages the company like they should have been managed to begin with, smaller teams produced with an umbrella producer style, they are labeled the villain.
It is obvious many here did not major in business.
Microsoft is cleaning up the operational mess that Blizzard built with poor management for years now.
I suggest look at how companies who take over companies through acquisition in other industries conduct a turnaround in operational efficiency.
What MS is doing is what needs to be done.
Acti-Blizz was an organisational nightmare.
Good on them.

We don't know the roles of those who have gone so it is hard to assess how much payroll bloat there was, but any large organisation has some of course. I see your points, but how many more people will get laid off before you think it is more than restructuring?

What I will be looking for is what "Blizzard" produces from here on out, if we see very little I will stand by my remarks.

Your initial post referred to a statement other people made when the deal went through. They absorb and make prosper and you said something like: it does not look like that now.

Yes, it does.
This is exactly what they are doing.

Do you think they are just terming to term?
That is not how it works.
It is all about the return on investment for a team or group. Does the payroll and benefits they are investing warrant the output they produce.
If not, reorganising the structure is the smart move.
They analyzed their business and made adjustments to allow the company to prosper.
What they are doing is organisational business 101.

Scot · September 30

Terazon said:

Scot said:

Terazon said:

Blizzard has had a ton of payroll bloat for years (how many projects have they been attached to only to hear they were canceled?) and when Microsoft manages the company like they should have been managed to begin with, smaller teams produced with an umbrella producer style, they are labeled the villain.
It is obvious many here did not major in business.
Microsoft is cleaning up the operational mess that Blizzard built with poor management for years now.
I suggest look at how companies who take over companies through acquisition in other industries conduct a turnaround in operational efficiency.
What MS is doing is what needs to be done.
Acti-Blizz was an organisational nightmare.
Good on them.

We don't know the roles of those who have gone so it is hard to assess how much payroll bloat there was, but any large organisation has some of course. I see your points, but how many more people will get laid off before you think it is more than restructuring?

What I will be looking for is what "Blizzard" produces from here on out, if we see very little I will stand by my remarks.

Your initial post referred to a statement other people made when the deal went through. They absorb and make prosper and you said something like: it does not look like that now.

Yes, it does.
This is exactly what they are doing.

Do you think they are just terming to term?
That is not how it works.
It is all about the return on investment for a team or group. Does the payroll and benefits they are investing warrant the output they produce.
If not, reorganising the structure is the smart move.
They analyzed their business and made adjustments to allow the company to prosper.
What they are doing is organisational business 101.

I don't doubt that the business sense of what you are saying, but there has to come a point where you think "they had 13k employees in 2022, has not the restructuring gone on enough"? All I can see when it comes to upcoming games for Blizzard is a dlc for Diablo IV are we saying dlc is all they are working on?

What I am trying to get at is was Blizzard bought to purely upkeep its current stable of games or are they planning on new releases? The reason I think that's important is if they are planning new releases the cut backs make less sense to me.

Kyleran · September 30

Scot said:

Terazon said:

Scot said:

Terazon said:

Blizzard has had a ton of payroll bloat for years (how many projects have they been attached to only to hear they were canceled?) and when Microsoft manages the company like they should have been managed to begin with, smaller teams produced with an umbrella producer style, they are labeled the villain.
It is obvious many here did not major in business.
Microsoft is cleaning up the operational mess that Blizzard built with poor management for years now.
I suggest look at how companies who take over companies through acquisition in other industries conduct a turnaround in operational efficiency.
What MS is doing is what needs to be done.
Acti-Blizz was an organisational nightmare.
Good on them.

We don't know the roles of those who have gone so it is hard to assess how much payroll bloat there was, but any large organisation has some of course. I see your points, but how many more people will get laid off before you think it is more than restructuring?

What I will be looking for is what "Blizzard" produces from here on out, if we see very little I will stand by my remarks.

Your initial post referred to a statement other people made when the deal went through. They absorb and make prosper and you said something like: it does not look like that now.

Yes, it does.
This is exactly what they are doing.

Do you think they are just terming to term?
That is not how it works.
It is all about the return on investment for a team or group. Does the payroll and benefits they are investing warrant the output they produce.
If not, reorganising the structure is the smart move.
They analyzed their business and made adjustments to allow the company to prosper.
What they are doing is organisational business 101.

I don't doubt that the business sense of what you are saying, but there has to come a point where you think "they had 13k employees in 2022, has not the restructuring gone on enough"? All I can see when it comes to upcoming games for Blizzard is a dlc for Diablo IV are we saying dlc is all they are working on?

What I am trying to get at is was Blizzard bought to purely upkeep its current stable of games or are they planning on new releases? The reason I think that's important is if they are planning new releases the cut backs make less sense to me.

When you think about how MS traditionally operates, they don't really introduce new products, just reimagine their existing big sellers like the apps in Office 365.

Might be planning to do similar with their big franchise game portfolios.

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Activision Blizzard, ONCE AGAIN, Plans to Lay Off a Lot of People | MMORPG.com

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

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Activision Blizzard, ONCE AGAIN, Plans to Lay Off a Lot of People | MMORPG.com

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV