Source: Blizzard Entertainment
According to a report from Bloomberg, Activision-Blizzard is laying off over 50 staff. This includes some who worked on the live events team, which is no longer a priority for Blizzard Entertainment following a change in strategy. Other staff affected include some working at King, a publisher known for games like Candy Crush. The total number of affected employees is not known but is stated to be under 2% of the total workforce.
“Players are increasingly choosing to connect with our games digitally and the e-sports team, much like traditional sports, entertainment, and broadcasting industries, has had to adapt its business due to the impact the pandemic has had on live events,” a company spokesperson said to Bloomberg.
Schreier notes that employees affected by the layoffs were given 90 days severance pay, a year of health benefits and $200 gift cards for Battle.net. These layoffs also come after Activision-Blizzard’s most recent financial results saw over $2.4 billion in revenue, while Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the second best-selling game in the U.S. in February per NPD.
Activision-Blizzard is looking to launch a new Call of Duty title later in 2021, alongside a remaster of Diablo 2. Looking further ahead, Blizzard Entertainment has major games on the way, though not releasing in 2021, with titles such as Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2. Earlier this year at BlizzCon 2021, Blizzard provided more information on these upcoming games, including new details on how PvP works in Diablo 4.
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