Blizzard, a division of Activision Blizzard Inc., fired about 50 people on Wednesday across various support departments that largely handled live events, such as e-sports matches.
The cuts are a signal that Blizzard plans a broader shift away from live events after a year of lockdowns.
“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. The affected U.S. workers will receive a minimum of 90 days severance and health benefits for a year.
Last month, Blizzard held a virtual version of its annual BlizzCon convention that was more diminished than previous shows. Even as it reduces staffing in some divisions, Activision Blizzard, known for franchises including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, gave an optimistic outlook for this year and next and said it expects to hire 3,000 people in 2021.
A recent bonus payout from Activision Blizzard to its CEO Bobby Kotick is drawing outside criticism. The $200 million dollar bonus is tied to the growth in Activision Blizzard Stock value over the last couple of years, though critics argue that external factors beyond what a CEO could influence as the reason for the stock valuation.
The Activision Blizzard CEO earned the $200 million bonus as a part of the Shareholder Value Creation Incentive provision in his contract. Against recent news that the company dumped nearly 200 employees this week, the exorbitant payout to its CEO feels ill-timed at best.
Don't worry, Bobby made sure those who got fired were given 200 Blizzbucks as part of their severance. They will be able to keep playing WoW and buy a few cosmetics through the end of the year.
a CEO getting a bonus for good performance (regardless of how much of that performance he actually impacted) has nothing to do with redundant personal being fired. No company is going to keep you employed when they don't need you just because they have the money to do so.
Now you can complain about CEO salary's and bonuses and I would be right there with you but this is not Activision being the source of all evil, but simply any random major company in the world doing what they all do.
On March 19 2021 06:29 Gorsameth wrote: a CEO getting a bonus for good performance (regardless of how much of that performance he actually impacted) has nothing to do with redundant personal being fired. No company is going to keep you employed when they don't need you just because they have the money to do so.
Now you can complain about CEO salary's and bonuses and I would be right there with you but this is not Activision being the source of all evil, but simply any random major company in the world doing what they all do.
This is true (and is discussed in the video I posted as well as good reasons for general salary disparity), however I find it so incredibly disgraceful how this is almost the norm these days. So I am pretty willing to throw shame, though normally I'd just groan and move on.
It's more that this had been a trend going on for awhile now with Activizzard, and it's been reflecting more and more in their product (imo).
In 1996, a fledgling fighting game tournament sparked a cultural phenomenon that drew an international following through its inspiring exhibitions of skill and fun. In the decades since, countless legendary battles in that storied tournament — now known as the Evolution Championship Series (Evo) — have been waged in the virtual arenas of timeless games, many on PlayStation consoles.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the next chapter in the story of PlayStation and Evo, the world’s largest and longest-running fighting game tournament. Sony Interactive Entertainment has teamed up with RTS to acquire Evo through a joint venture partnership. With expertise spanning esports event management, brand and developer consulting and gaming talent management, RTS is a new venture led by CEO Stuart Saw and backed by investors including global entertainment, sports and content company Endeavor.
Evo co-founders Tom and Tony Cannon will remain closely involved in an advisory role to ensure Evo continues to service the fighting game community and support its vibrant growth.
This partnership marks a new collaboration, bringing together the resources and expertise that will allow us to elevate the global reach, scale and fan engagement surrounding this iconic gaming tournament.
Evo Online Kicks off this August
With the support of world-class publishers, Evo is returning this year as Evo Online, a fully online competition taking place August 6 – 8 and 13 -15. Entry will be free, and players in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America* will be able to compete in BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment’s Tekken 7, Capcom’s Street Fighter V: Champion Edition, Warner Bros. Games’ Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate**, and Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear™ -Strive- in an open format. The online qualifiers will be livestreamed for fans, and more details will be shared in the coming weeks on evo.gg.
Our collective team is laser-focused on one mission: preserving the authenticity of Evo for the fighting game community and finding creative ways, alongside our fans, to grow the tournament and make its events and broadcasts more fun, engaging and accessible than ever. At its core, Evo will remain what it has always been: an open-format competition that gives fighting game fans from different countries a chance to connect, test their skills, and forge new friendships.
A New Chapter in our Esports Journey
For PlayStation, today’s announcement marks an exciting step in our journey to foster the growth of the fighting game community and esports, and support competitive gamers widely on our consoles. Fighting games are hugely popular on PlayStation consoles, with gamers logging more than 1.1 billion gameplay hours in 2020 alone. We’re committed to breaking down the barriers for gamers to compete at all levels and providing a best-in-class, global platform for them to showcase their skills and passion.
We also want to voice our support for Evo’s message today about creating a safe and inclusive environment for players. At PlayStation, we’ve always made that our highest priority. As a collective team, we’ll work closely together to ensure future Evo events are safe and welcoming for the entire community.
We’ll have much more to share about what’s coming for Evo 2021 in the coming weeks and months. For the latest updates, please check out: evo.gg.
On March 19 2021 06:29 Gorsameth wrote: a CEO getting a bonus for good performance (regardless of how much of that performance he actually impacted) has nothing to do with redundant personal being fired. No company is going to keep you employed when they don't need you just because they have the money to do so.
Now you can complain about CEO salary's and bonuses and I would be right there with you but this is not Activision being the source of all evil, but simply any random major company in the world doing what they all do.
It absolutely does, not necessarily in a one-to-one manner but they are rather interlinked in this particular model.
C’est la vie and Bobby Kotick is singled out a lot despite not being any kind of outlier.
meh, Kotick wants to be hated. He is a heat seeking missile. Its part of his game. By everyone hating him it keeps the bright lights off of the creative leads of the game studio subsidiaries. I play the same game with my business partner. I'm the sweet and lovable creative tech innovator. He is the evil money man who will cancel any project in a nanosecond if he is not happy. Once or twice a year when a lethargy is coming over my programmers... I just put forth the fear of the project getting cancelled. This wakes them up. My business partner's ruthless image and reputation helps move struggling projects along. He is sorta like a scarecrow... in a $3500 suit.
I'm surprised how few people can see this obvious "hated money guy"//"loved creative leader" narrative that gets played out in 1000s of software dev shops around the world ... every week of every year.
Morhaime is a very smart guy and he greenlit Kotick being his boss. By 2007 Morhaime, Pierce et al had enough money to retire and never work another day. They chose to work for Kotick for many, many years.
On March 19 2021 07:24 JimmyJRaynor wrote: meh, Kotick wants to be hated. He is a heat seeking missile. Its part of his game. By everyone hating him it keeps the bright lights off of the creative leads of the game studio subsidiaries. I play the same game with my business partner. I'm the sweet and lovable creative tech innovator. He is the evil money man who will cancel any project in a nanosecond if he is not happy. Once or twice a year when a lethargy is coming over my programmers... I just put forth the fear of the project getting cancelled. This wakes them up. My business partner's ruthless image and reputation helps move struggling projects along. He is sorta like a scarecrow... in a $3500 suit.
I'm surprised how few people can see this obvious "hated money guy"//"loved creative leader" narrative that gets played out in 1000s of software dev shops around the world ... every week of every year.
Why are you defending such horrible practices? There are other ways of motivating people to work apart from putting the fear into them (which leads to stress, anxiety and worse performance overall).
I don't care if he wants to be hated or not. This still makes him a horrible person in my book and I will never support such people.
Edit: Also, I once worked at a dev company where what you preach was being practiced. One day when the guy came to scare developers into working harder by threatening project cancellation etc. 80% of developers quit within a week because they've had enough of this bullshit. Really good way to move things along...
I really don't get it why the execs can't get it through their heads that good devs will always be sought after and won't have trouble finding employment. Threatening them just prompts them to change jobs.
On March 19 2021 07:24 JimmyJRaynor wrote: meh, Kotick wants to be hated. He is a heat seeking missile. Its part of his game. By everyone hating him it keeps the bright lights off of the creative leads of the game studio subsidiaries. I play the same game with my business partner. I'm the sweet and lovable creative tech innovator. He is the evil money man who will cancel any project in a nanosecond if he is not happy. Once or twice a year when a lethargy is coming over my programmers... I just put forth the fear of the project getting cancelled. This wakes them up. My business partner's ruthless image and reputation helps move struggling projects along. He is sorta like a scarecrow... in a $3500 suit.
I'm surprised how few people can see this obvious "hated money guy"//"loved creative leader" narrative that gets played out in 1000s of software dev shops around the world ... every week of every year.
Why are you defending such horrible practices? There are other ways of motivating people to work apart from putting the fear into them (which leads to stress, anxiety and worse performance overall).
I don't care if he wants to be hated or not. This still makes him a horrible person in my book and I will never support such people.
Edit: Also, I once worked at a dev company where what you preach was being practiced. One day when the guy came to scare developers into working harder by threatening project cancellation etc. 80% of developers quit within a week because they've had enough of this bullshit. Really good way to move things along...
I really don't get it why the execs can't get it through their heads that good devs will always be sought after and won't have trouble finding employment. Threatening them just prompts them to change jobs.
Which is probably why so many creative strong studios loose their top employees after getting bought by global players. Blizzard and Bioware are just some recent examples of studios where the talent bleed was very real.
After all if you can't offer your good employees good conditions and working climate why the fuck would they work for you? The ones you get stuck with are the ones that are scared of finding another job.
And before arguments about it being different in the big leagues start, I think I need to mention that I work as a dev for a company whose stock price is three times higher than Activision's and its market cap is four times higher and there are no such problems.
What some of the gaming companies do is simply appalling and I have no idea how are they getting away with such abhorrent practices and horrendous employee treatment year after year...
A deep and very intense sense of urgency is critical in top notch software development. Samwise Didier has a saying that drives home this urgency. "A B C ... Always Be Creating"
Didier's picture comes from this speech in the movie "GlenGarry Glen Ross"
"the good news is : you're fired. The bad news is all of you have got one week to regain your jobs"
On March 20 2021 13:13 Manit0u wrote: And before arguments about it being different in the big leagues start, I think I need to mention that I work as a dev for a company whose stock price is three times higher than Activision's and its market cap is four times higher and there are no such problems.
What some of the gaming companies do is simply appalling and I have no idea how are they getting away with such abhorrent practices and horrendous employee treatment year after year...
Samwise Didier has been working for Blizzard under ATVI since the Blizzard // Activision merger. That's what? 13 years?
On March 20 2021 13:13 Manit0u wrote: And before arguments about it being different in the big leagues start, I think I need to mention that I work as a dev for a company whose stock price is three times higher than Activision's and its market cap is four times higher and there are no such problems.
What some of the gaming companies do is simply appalling and I have no idea how are they getting away with such abhorrent practices and horrendous employee treatment year after year...
This is also my view. I think industry is abusing the fact that devs are often gamers themselves and for many this is "dream coming true", thus they are more prone to be abused/exploited, as they are willing to suffer more for "their dream".
I know many people working in game dev (CD Projekt Red, Techland etc.) and also some people who used to work there. Not a single person of those have said that working enviroment in game dev is better. Salaries are also often lower than in nongame dev.
EDIT: A company i work for has 3 times employees and 1,5 times revenue of Activision-Blizzard. So it is not small by any means yet they manage to go around without abusing their emploeeyes.
That's what you call an exception man. Just because a few people stuck around.
For example look at me. I have seen over 700 people leave my company and go to the competition and I am still there. Once again. I am the exception. There are only 4 people who are still with my company that where around since I started.
On March 20 2021 13:13 Manit0u wrote: And before arguments about it being different in the big leagues start, I think I need to mention that I work as a dev for a company whose stock price is three times higher than Activision's and its market cap is four times higher and there are no such problems.
What some of the gaming companies do is simply appalling and I have no idea how are they getting away with such abhorrent practices and horrendous employee treatment year after year...
This is also my view. I think industry is abusing the fact that devs are often gamers themselves and for many this is "dream coming true", thus they are more prone to be abused/exploited, as they are willing to suffer more for "their dream".
I know many people working in game dev (CD Projekt Red, Techland etc.) and also some people who used to work there. Not a single person of those have said that working enviroment in game dev is better. Salaries are also often lower than in nongame dev.
EDIT: A company i work for has 3 times employees and 1,5 times revenue of Activision-Blizzard. So it is not small by any means yet they manage to go around without abusing their emploeeyes.
Yeah I think it was Casey Yano, one of the two Slay the Spire founders who said that he stopped his well-paid job at QA at amazon because he just really wanted to develop games, so he went and founded an indie studio. Game design is fascinating to a lot of people and it's generally more fun to create something you would enjoy yourself than f.e. the administration software you get to program in so many companies, so the game industry has a lot of enthusiastic people who could work under much better conditions in a different field.
In fairness to the management: Game development like most creative work is a huge risk because you're entirely reliant on short term revenue you get for 3+ year projects with high costs. Unlike much of the software industry you can't really sell subscriptions, so a failed launch can immediately bankrupt small to medium companies even after multiple successful projects. So I get why they try to get the most out of their project at any cost.
That being said the global players like EA and Atvi repetitively prove that they have no qualms to abuse the psychological elements of game design to create addictive spirals that keep players buying their "surprise mechanics". And the level of treating people like shit we see can't be good for the long term quality of their products.
On March 21 2021 10:40 Archeon wrote: And the level of treating people like shit we see can't be good for the long term quality of their products.
Activision rose from the ashes 30 years ago and continues to grow year after year and decade after decade. ATVI has taken many of their products to the summit of quality until their revenue no longer justified continued resources. I think what will harm the long term growth of ATVI is Kotick cashing out.
Relative to their competition, games like WoW, SC2, CoD, Guitar Hero, and Skylanders are at the top of their class in terms of quality. Notice that Bungie's issues with bugs in Destiny2 got worse, not better after leaving ATVI.
Generally speaking, I don't think ATVI treats its people badly. As others have noted people will just leave and work someplace else. I do think their dev studios face the same stressors all software developers face. Every project has time and money deadlines.
Personally speaking, my fastest professional growth occurs during time periods when I am presented with the hardest tasks and most difficult challenges. Iron sharpens Iron. Making software is an iron sharpens iron world. That's just how it is man.
On March 21 2021 10:40 Archeon wrote: And the level of treating people like shit we see can't be good for the long term quality of their products.
Activision rose from the ashes 30 years ago and continues to grow year after year and decade after decade. ATVI has taken many of their products to the summit of quality until their revenue no longer justified continued resources. I think what will harm the long term growth of ATVI is Kotick cashing out.
Generally speaking, I don't think ATVI treats its people badly. As others have noted people will just leave and work someplace else. I do think their dev studios face the same stressors all software developers face. Every project has time and money deadlines.
Personally speaking, my fastest professional growth occurs during time periods when I am presented with the hardest tasks and most difficult challenges. Iron sharpens Iron. Making software is an iron sharpens iron world.
Considering that from the limited insight we get the vast majority of Blizzard's upper league seems to have changed the company within the last 10 years after staying in the same place for at times 15 years prior and that diablo 4 is basically the only noteworthy new project Blizz has announced within the last 4 years it is pretty clear that they bled a lot of their talent. So I'm really not sure that Atvi treats their employees well, especially after we just got the news that they just fired 200 people after merging one of the blizzard studios in 2020 and closing another one 2019.
And psychologically speaking iron only sharpens iron if the task is a little harder than what you're used to. If it's way harder most people feel confused, frustrated and left alone and stop growing entirely. If you can hit that slightly too difficult level and the person is motivated great. But you are flirting with disaster if that's your motivational strategy.
Also most software devs have amazing benefits like home office, flexible working hours, great pay and often tons of other smaller benefits. Most software devs get to pick from a bunch of jobs because few qualifications are more asked for in our modern society. In gaming you need to have a half a dozen published projects to earn way less money and have no job stability. Or you go Indie and have no stable income.
If ActivisionBlizz were milking existing big hits for all they’re worth and recycling some of that to the next generation of hit titles that’s one thing, much the rest is withering on the vine.
Shareholders don’t particularly care on where AB is in 10 years provided they can cash in their chips and make their money.
In initially reviving Activsion sure Kotick showed a lot of vision and chops, nowadays I’m not seeing a particularly admirable display of executive chops We’ll see, I could be 100% wrong and the current franchises will continue to have milkable udders in perpetuity, or a next generation of fresh games will knock it out of the park.
EPT
