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SC2 esports team members included in Blizzard layoffs

Forum Index > SC2 General
115 CommentsPost a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 6 Next All
Waxangel
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
United States33463 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-14 00:11:20
February 14 2019 00:01 GMT
#1
Members of the StarCraft II esports team were among the hundreds of Blizzard employees laid off on Tuesday (Feb 12). Esports coordinator Stewart Chen, Community Manager Andrew Dunne (aka Arkitas/Kibbelz), and Creative Producer/Senior Esports Manager Marc Olbertz tweeted that they were no longer with Blizzard Entertainment.







The layoffs are reported to affect around 8% of Activision Blizzard's 9,600 global employees, focused on non-development departments such as publishing and esports.

During an earnings call on Tuesday, Activision Blizzard reported that while the company had achieved record earnings in 2018, it had still fallen short of expectations in terms of "engagement" and "player investment." Activision Blizzard stock has fallen more than 40% over the past year.
Facebook Twitter Reddit
AdministratorHey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?
BigFan
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
TLADT24920 Posts
February 14 2019 00:10 GMT
#2
"Nearly 14 years ago i joined @Blizzard_Ent ." ouch, that must really hurt.
Former BW EiC"Watch Bakemonogatari or I will kill you." -Toad, April 18th, 2017
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
February 14 2019 00:12 GMT
#3
A big thanks to any SC2 employee you might wander here, despite all our wining we love the job you all did, best of luck in the future. (And a bit of luck for SC2 itself wouldn't go amiss)
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20318 Posts
February 14 2019 00:18 GMT
#4
Sorry to hear :x
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
narbsncharbs
Profile Joined February 2019
34 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-14 00:33:09
February 14 2019 00:29 GMT
#5
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.

Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years.
FueledUpAndReadyToGo
Profile Blog Joined March 2013
Netherlands30548 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-14 01:11:03
February 14 2019 01:07 GMT
#6
Sad for all that lost their jobs, and us Starcraft fans

A lot of community figures are reacting with not just sadness but complete disbelief that Olbertz was laid off. Makes me wonder if Blizzards idea/commitment to WCS has changed after this earnings call compared to when they announced the 2019 circuit
Neosteel Enthusiast
Nakajin
Profile Blog Joined September 2014
Canada8989 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-14 01:21:51
February 14 2019 01:19 GMT
#7
On February 14 2019 10:07 FueledUpAndReadyToGo wrote:
Sad for all that lost their jobs, and us Starcraft fans

A lot of community figures are reacting with not just sadness but complete disbelief that Olbertz was laid off. Makes me wonder if Blizzards idea/commitment to WCS has changed after this earnings call compared to when they announced the 2019 circuit


Kim Phan kept her post as far as I know so I think were good for this year since she's the one in charge (look I don't have a clue but gotta find comfort where you can)
Writerhttp://i.imgur.com/9p6ufcB.jpg
sneakyfox
Profile Joined January 2017
8216 Posts
February 14 2019 01:39 GMT
#8
Sorry to see these people go. And not a cause for optimism concerning he future of SC2.
"I saw what sneakyfox wrote on TL.net and it made me furious" - PartinG
fishjie
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
United States1519 Posts
February 14 2019 01:54 GMT
#9
they should just fire activision executives instead for ruining everything....? there's a reason their stock has dropped so much
renaissanceMAN
Profile Joined March 2011
United States1840 Posts
February 14 2019 02:37 GMT
#10
v sad to see some of these people go
On August 15 2013 03:43 Waxangel wrote: no amount of money can replace the enjoyment of being mean to people on the internet
Fecalfeast
Profile Joined January 2010
Canada11355 Posts
February 14 2019 03:32 GMT
#11
Artosis and incontrol gave some very emotional and bleak opinions and predictions based on the removal of Olbertz on the pylon show today.

I wasn't sure who any of these people were before the layoffs took place but now have a feeling of dread for the future
ModeratorINFLATE YOUR POST COUNT; PLAY TL MAFIA
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
February 14 2019 03:52 GMT
#12
if this year is it then it's been fun. if you can't enjoy the game without esports probably best to take a step back anyway. i love starcraft, but life is bigger. gl hf i guess
TL+ Member
Noonius
Profile Joined April 2012
Estonia17413 Posts
February 14 2019 06:36 GMT
#13
there won't be a wcs in 2020, or we just have a very gutted version. From there on we will only have community tournaments and maybe IEM.
Terran forever | Maru hater forever
Drake
Profile Joined October 2010
Germany6146 Posts
February 14 2019 06:39 GMT
#14
On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.

Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years.


no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders
Nb.Drake / CoL_Drake / Original Joined TL.net Tuesday, 15th of March 2005
cha0
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada506 Posts
February 14 2019 07:12 GMT
#15
On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.

Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years.


no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders


Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkin

This guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke.
FFW_Rude
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France10201 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-14 07:17:51
February 14 2019 07:16 GMT
#16
8% ? WHAT ? That's huge
#1 KT Rolster fanboy. KT BEST KT ! Hail to KT playoffs Zergs ! Unofficial french translator for SlayerS_`Boxer` biography "Crazy as me".
nimdil
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Poland3750 Posts
February 14 2019 07:47 GMT
#17
On February 14 2019 16:12 cha0 wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 14 2019 15:39 Drake wrote:
On February 14 2019 09:29 narbsncharbs wrote:
While it is sad people are out of a job, i'm glad that actiblizz is reallocating those funds---into game development.

Actiblizz releases a new cod every year and it makes over a billion dollars every year every time. I would love to see that with other actiblizz ips. I'd be so busy I wouldn't have any time to look at other games from other companies. Hope they gear things up hard and have a dedicated team for each franchise instead of all that shuffling around nonsense they've been doing the last several years.


no they reallocating those funds into the pockets of the shareholders


Not even... they're reallocating those funds into Bobby Kotick and his top execs pockets. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkin

This guy just got 15mil as signing bonus, and less than month later they are laying people off to reallocate funds? What an absolute joke.

https://3ovyg21t17l11k49tk1oma21-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5-levels-corp-org.jpg
Note the "bonus buddies" section and "might get laid off" section.
darhumewin
Profile Joined October 2013
United States16 Posts
February 14 2019 08:17 GMT
#18
at Blizzard, if you help your company break a record by helping them reach $7.3 bill / year, you still get laid off.


great company.
lechatnoir
Profile Joined November 2016
387 Posts
February 14 2019 08:19 GMT
#19
Record success and still lay-offs. Screw everything about a system that encourages this. So many people at the top lost all sense of proper priorities.
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada16865 Posts
Last Edited: 2019-02-14 08:30:43
February 14 2019 08:25 GMT
#20
On February 14 2019 17:19 lechatnoir wrote:
Record success and still lay-offs. Screw everything about a system that encourages this. So many people at the top lost all sense of proper priorities.

revenue is not profits. Profits in 2018 are $27 million lower than in 2017. when revenue is up and profits are down the standard move is to lower expenses. Blizzard's profit per $ of operating expense is the lowest out of Activision, Blizz, and King Digital. Circulating thru reddit is a list of 140 jobs Blizzard for which is hiring. Blizz is hiring.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
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