Game publisher, Activision-Blizzard to begin massive layoffs, 800 employees to be dismissed

Game publisher Activision-Blizzard announced that it will lay off 8% of its staff of 9,600 employees. This announcement was made during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. A total of nearly 800 employees, that will be laid off will mostly belong to non-game development and administrative areas of the company.

CEO of Activision-Blizzard Bobby Kotick said, “The move is being made in an effort at de-prioritizing initiatives that are not meeting expectations and reducing certain non-development and administrative-related costs across the business." The company is undergoing restructuring because of missed expectations for 2018 and lowered expectations for 2019. It will boost up the numbers of employees in the development team of its franchises like Call of Duty and Diablo.

In a note to its staff obtained by Kotaku, Blizzard, president J. Allen Brack said, “Currently staffing levels on some teams are out of proportion with our current release slate. This means we need to scale down some areas of our organization. I’m sorry to share that we will be parting ways with some of our colleagues in the U.S. today.”

The letter also promised “a comprehensive severance package”, says Kotaku. It will include 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.

In the official press release on Blizzard's website, Brack said Blizzard is dedicated to bringing their unannounced projects to life. They will focus heavily on Esports and the Overwatch League, which is their biggest esports brand.

Twitterati is highly disappointed with this news and is sympathetic towards dismissed employees.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1095374774728048640

https://twitter.com/hitstreak/status/1095456359594610689

https://twitter.com/day9tv/status/1095390958584131584

Other organizations are also offering job opportunities to those in need.

https://twitter.com/ScottLowe/status/1094052545297711104

https://twitter.com/MitchyD/status/1094061851804078082