EPTSC2 esports team members included in Blizzard layoffs - Pa…
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DubiousC2
129 Posts
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Carminedust
487 Posts
User was temp banned for this post. | ||
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Cyro
United Kingdom20335 Posts
WoW is a good example of why this shit happens. An MMO needs a lot of GM and CM staff. When your MMO slows down, those people can't be easily assigned to other projects in other genres. WoW has actually been suffering recently from a lack of CM and GM staff. Communication to players has been pretty bad and if you put in a GM ticket, you didn't get a reply until the next day. | ||
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Khalimaroth
France71 Posts
On February 15 2019 02:48 Clonester wrote: The stocks have just lost 50% of their value in the last year. Obviously the leadership is forced to something, when they have just cut the money of their stockholders in half. Laying off major parts of your non developing teams might be the wrong way of "doing something". We will see in the future. That laying off people is so easy in the US is not the fault of Activision. And with the current unemployment rate, these people should be able to find another job very soon. The stocks fall since the blizzcon... and you know what happens at the blizzcon... We want the passionate Blizzard Back. | ||
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KelsierSC
United Kingdom10443 Posts
Many people have already branched out into other projects but this should tell them to put SC2 on the back burner so to speak and really focus on their next step, be that in esports or elsewhere. From a personal perspective I don't ever have the time play games to a large extent and I get my fix by watching WCS or GSL. I'm taking this as a sign that it's time to move away from this and team liquid . Moving my free time to better options. I'm obviously disappointed by activisions decision but it's dollar and cents right. I don't think blizzard made all great choices but the gaming industry has moved on and a hard-core RTS with limited cash grab opportunities just doesn't cut it in the current market. SC2 was a great game that had it's time. I commend anyone who keeps working in the scene but at this point if it's not strictly a passion project it's a bad idea for anyone to put time or money into the scene. | ||
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Charoisaur
Germany16079 Posts
On February 15 2019 18:31 KelsierSC wrote: I think this gives a timely warning to current SC2 players, personalities and behind the scenes staff that they need to get out and pursue other options or at the least realise that SC2 wont be a career path and will be solely a hobby. Many people have already branched out into other projects but this should tell them to put SC2 on the back burner so to speak and really focus on their next step, be that in esports or elsewhere. From a personal perspective I don't ever have the time play games to a large extent and I get my fix by watching WCS or GSL. I'm taking this as a sign that it's time to move away from this and team liquid . Moving my free time to better options. I'm obviously disappointed by activisions decision but it's dollar and cents right. I don't think blizzard made all great choices but the gaming industry has moved on and a hard-core RTS with limited cash grab opportunities just doesn't cut it in the current market. SC2 was a great game that had it's time. I commend anyone who keeps working in the scene but at this point if it's not strictly a passion project it's a bad idea for anyone to put time or money into the scene. this might make sense for sc2 personalities... But why would this matter to the average sc2 fan who plays ladder and watches tournaments? Do´you feel forced to move on because not enough other people enjoy RTS games??? | ||
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Snakestyle11
191 Posts
If only he had a 2-3 more good years of good starcraft tournaments, he would be set for life with money really | ||
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KelsierSC
United Kingdom10443 Posts
On February 15 2019 19:38 Charoisaur wrote: this might make sense for sc2 personalities... But why would this matter to the average sc2 fan who plays ladder and watches tournaments? Do´you feel forced to move on because not enough other people enjoy RTS games??? I can't speak for the average SC2 fan, I don't know where you got that question from but my personal motivation to move on is because in my limited free time I like watching studio broadcasts and offline tournaments with high production value and decent casters. These events will likely be gone soon and I don't want to continue investing time or emotion into something that will disappear. I don't really have interest in someone solo casting games from their bedroom for a $50 tournament. | ||
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MockHamill
Sweden1798 Posts
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HolydaKing
21254 Posts
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Shuffleblade
Sweden1903 Posts
On February 15 2019 18:31 KelsierSC wrote: I think this gives a timely warning to current SC2 players, personalities and behind the scenes staff that they need to get out and pursue other options or at the least realise that SC2 wont be a career path and will be solely a hobby. Many people have already branched out into other projects but this should tell them to put SC2 on the back burner so to speak and really focus on their next step, be that in esports or elsewhere. From a personal perspective I don't ever have the time play games to a large extent and I get my fix by watching WCS or GSL. I'm taking this as a sign that it's time to move away from this and team liquid . Moving my free time to better options. I'm obviously disappointed by activisions decision but it's dollar and cents right. I don't think blizzard made all great choices but the gaming industry has moved on and a hard-core RTS with limited cash grab opportunities just doesn't cut it in the current market. SC2 was a great game that had it's time. I commend anyone who keeps working in the scene but at this point if it's not strictly a passion project it's a bad idea for anyone to put time or money into the scene. I understand where you are coming from and this does send a scary message. There is however still a possbility that the opportunity RTS and the Starcraft franchise presents will be recognized. I mean strategically supporting SC2 in itself can be seen as a sound investment in a future game. Just like mobas and royale games have exploded a new RTS could do the same if timed correctly and with the right support and infrastructure. Just like how SC1 boosed SC2 and created hype through GSLs and kespas legacies as well as famous pros going from SC1->SC2 a SC3 could do the same. Of course RTS has its challenges with going mainstream but seeing as the SC2 scene is growing right now I don't think its that far fetched to believe that gamers eventually will want something different compared to what they are getting right now. The one failure Blizzard did with SC2 was how they failed to put in place any good way to get money after the initival game and expansion purchases. If they had integrated it as well as league or fortnite has SC2 would be a huge financial success. In that world SC2 would probably be a lot bigger still today since Blizzard would have stronget incentives to invest even more in the scene than they have. Just saying that if companies are chasing the smash successes of fortnite they need to do something new and they need to do it with the right infrastructure and timing in mind. Starcraft 3 could possibly explode to the same success. I wouldn't be surprised if few people believe that but let me tell you that if I would have said that DOTA have the potential to create one of the most popular and mainstream games genres in the world early on when it was a wc3 mod literally everyone would laugh at me. Just because you don't believe doesn't mean its not possible | ||
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Rob-Zero
Germany460 Posts
On February 15 2019 20:34 KelsierSC wrote: I can't speak for the average SC2 fan, I don't know where you got that question from but my personal motivation to move on is because in my limited free time I like watching studio broadcasts and offline tournaments with high production value and decent casters. These events will likely be gone soon and I don't want to continue investing time or emotion into something that will disappear. I don't really have interest in someone solo casting games from their bedroom for a $50 tournament. Of course you are free to do whatever you like to, but I have the feeling you overreact a bit here. We have at least one more year of Sc2, and after 2018 this coming year could very well be an exciting one. If every Sc2 fan moves on to another hobby now, then it will surely be the last year. Of course it will at one point disappear, but that was clear from the beginning, so I don´t understand why you got involved in it in the first place? I hope you put another thought in it and find a way to enjoy the scene as long as it lasts, because it really is a lot of fun, in my eyes at least. And after all there was no announcement on ATVI dropping Sc2 or anything like that. | ||
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Luolis
Finland7179 Posts
On February 15 2019 20:36 MockHamill wrote: If SC2 e-sports dies, maybe they can start balance the game around normal ladder players instead of the top 0.01% of the playerbase. It's not Blizzard's fault you're not very good :D | ||
Nakajin
Canada8990 Posts
On February 15 2019 20:36 MockHamill wrote: If SC2 e-sports dies, maybe they can start balance the game around normal ladder players instead of the top 0.01% of the playerbase. Who's that? Silver? Diamond? Master? Because tanks are OP in Silver, storm is OP in diamond and I imagine things like liberator or BL are OP in Master. Better to balance at the top then at a random skill level where balance dosen't really matter anyway because we know you can beat everyone at your level 95% of the time if your just a bit better. | ||
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TelecoM
United States10760 Posts
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Geo.Rion
7377 Posts
It really sucks, and not because I wont have what to watch, I'll be just fine, but those people whom i respect a lot committed their lives to this, and now they're gonna live the next year or so in complete uncertainty or start looking for other career options. Right now you simply cannot plan medium to long term with professional SC2 in your mind. 2019 is kinda set, and who the hell knows what comes next, maybe they allocate some more funds, maybe they cut it down to just about 0. If you're young and winning money from tournaments, that's great, worst come to worst, you start / go back to college next year, and if not you can continue. | ||
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
And a lot of folks are trying to justify this as belt tightening and increasing profits and so on. Remember that Activision is the company that chased out the founders of Infinity Wars in dramatic fashion, escorting them from the building and so on. The creators of this little game called Call of Duty. These lay offs might be belt tightening, but don’t take the Activision line that these are not development staff at face value. As so many developers have pointed out in recent days, many community managers work directly on the improvements the community suggest. The fact that it is so many senior memember is Blizzard says a lot about why the people were chosen to be laid off. Edit: On one more note, there has been no official press release from Activision on these layoffs. The earnings call was the only place they have discussed is in any public fashion and that was to brag about their record earnings and pay out increase to share holders. | ||
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RvB
Netherlands6287 Posts
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Plansix
United States60190 Posts
And from what I’ve read in the reporting, the people being laid off are not of the opinion that it is just support staff being let go. Most of them reported the choices seem random and don’t have any apparent logic or pattern. | ||
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Sabu113
United States11086 Posts
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