Industry News

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Activision Blizzard Reportedly Laying Off Hundreds of Staff

  • kintariskintaris333,761
  • Shrapnel 117Shrapnel 117425,030
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 11:01
    Because of course they would drop Blizzard employees over Activision ones.

    It's not like Blizzard actually make games or anything...
  • BalnazzardBalnazzard198,623
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 11:06, Edited on 11 February 19 at 11:10 by Balnazzard
    The more interesting (and worrying) side of this story (although ofc its bad news for people who lose their jobs) is what Activision-Blizzard plans to do with future game projects....aside from the obvious yearly Call of Duty that is sure to abandon singleplayer campaigns for good with success of Black Ops 4, I fear that in future what we can expect from Blizzard's side is more mobile game stuff and cutting of any plans for high budget singleplayer games as well....

    The fact that many key figures have left Blizzard during past few years doesnt bode well for the company, atleast from the perspective of us "old-school" Blizzard fans. Atleast Bungie is free to do what they want now, but how I wish there was some way Blizzard could gain full independence on their projects, but sadly thats very unlikely to happen.

    Overall doesnt look at all good for Blizzard with reports of World of Warcraft, Heartsone and Overwatch all losing players apparently at rapid pace. I quess the next thing we are likely to see from them is "Overwatch Battle Royale" or something....funny/sad brief time Overwatch had in the spotlight until rise of BR games, with Fortnite and PUGB and now Apex likely all "stealing" players from Overwatch
  • VuxurVuxur298,232
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 11:28
    What a great company.
  • Posted on 11 February 19 at 11:30
    I'm curious what company is gonna be next to follow suit and layoff employees.
  • supkrissupkris1,731,051
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 12:01, Edited on 11 February 19 at 12:02 by supkris
    "poor performance for Overwatch"

    I thought overwatch was a sensation. Did it flop commercially?
  • Maw N PawMaw N Paw1,544,418
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 12:24
    I was thinking Blizzard...Diablo Immortal...lol
    There is always a way.
  • BalnazzardBalnazzard198,623
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 12:26, Edited on 11 February 19 at 12:34 by Balnazzard
    supkris said:
    {#}poor performance for Overwatch{#}

    I thought overwatch was a sensation. Did it flop commercially?
    Nope, but there has been news over the past few months that the game would be "dying" aka losing players and popularity in Twitch/competitive scene.

    For sure its far from being "dead", but its time in the spotlight definitely seems to have gone and instead of gaining or atleast keeping its current playerbase, it instead seems to be losing players and its not hard to quess which games might be stealing Overwatch playerbase....

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMHLEbWz3yk
  • xPut Name HerexxPut Name Herex1,569,936
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 12:39
    If I had to guess, these layoffs a chief part of the layoffs will be in the Activision arm, due to the ending of the deal with Bungie for Destiny. There's a lot of employees right there who were brought in by Activision specifically for the marketing, accounting, customer support, etc. for Destiny, and while some of them can be reassigned to other projects, that still leaves a significant portion who's job really doesn't exist with the end of that deal.
  • Posted on 11 February 19 at 12:49
    This is sad, I don’t like seeing people lose their jobs. Maybe their executives could take a pay cut instead roll
  • Lord MidasLord Midas418,147
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 12:54
    BiaxialVeil9137 said:
    I'm curious what company is gonna be next to follow suit and layoff employees.
    Well, EA always tries to out-do Activision, so they'll no doubt layoff more.
    Hellsteeth!
  • BillarghBillargh448,261
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:08
    Poor Activision, I guess they're only making $10b profits in microtransactions as opposed to the $100bn they promised their shareholders. No doubt it sucks for the employees but Christ I fucking hate this company.
  • JCDRANZERJCDRANZER1,338,370
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:08
    I love Overwatch more than any of the BRs even though I have taken a shining to Apex Legends as of late.

    This is sad news overall, I would like Blizzard to split from Activision.
  • Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:15
    It's funny, people are now aligning Blizzard with Activision when they have been partners for a decade now
  • Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:15
    Billargh said:
    Poor Activision, I guess they're only making $10b profits in microtransactions as opposed to the $100bn they promised their shareholders. No doubt it sucks for the employees but Christ I fucking hate this company.
    Well they have to use microtransactions or Hearthstone would be running at a major loss. And a company intentionally running a game at a loss would be dumb
  • Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:19
    Terrible news, tough industry to be in for sure. I didn’t know Overwatch’s numbers were dropping either.
  • BillarghBillargh448,261
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:20
    TheGreatKoala said:
    Billargh said:
    Poor Activision, I guess they're only making $10b profits in microtransactions as opposed to the $100bn they promised their shareholders. No doubt it sucks for the employees but Christ I fucking hate this company.
    Well they have to use microtransactions or Hearthstone would be running at a major loss. And a company intentionally running a game at a loss would be dumb
    I've nothing against their microtransactions in free to play games, it's the amount of them and the cost of them in their full price retail releases I have a problem with.
  • EmiinahEmiinah50,879
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 13:59
    Wow that’s a bit of a shock in regards to Overwatch. I thought they had a dedicated enough player base that it would never go out of style. I didn’t think BR games made such an impact on OW either.
    Made you look :P
  • CQOzymandiasCQOzymandias660,977
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 14:22
    I love Overwatch, have since my friend introduced me shortly after launch; but despite how much I enjoy playing it, my desire to do so has waned as time has gone on mostly due to two things: first, the lack of any kind of story or campaign modes that can be played solo, and second, the constant addition of new achievements tied to their limited-time modes.
    Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they added the limited-time modes and the majority of them are quite fun, but I hate that they're limited time (mainly for the achievement-earning purposes).
    And as time goes on and they don't add any solo content or story, I find myself disappointed. Hell, I kept seeing gifs and clips of the Overwatch shorts in places on the internet (like Tumblr), and was disappointed to find that you can't even watch those in the game, like in a cinematic menu or something. And while I find the little bits of dialogue and lore given spontaneously during games, I'm often too focused on actually playing the matches to pay particular attention and think long on what gets said and meaning. Come on, Blizzard, give us some proper story content! Hell, I'd be happy to even pay a little for it as DLC, the support with the limited time modes and new heros and maps for free has me pretty satisfied with my game purchase...but I could be happier!
  • NawtyCawtyNawtyCawty1,076,052
    Posted on 11 February 19 at 14:46
    Buttercup III said:
    This is sad, I don’t like seeing people lose their jobs. Maybe their executives could take a pay cut instead roll
    Or maybe they could just work harder and make better games.
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