It’s hardly a new occurrence to hear about gaming related companies taking a hit in terms of staffing. I feel like last year you couldn’t go a month without someone taking a hit. That said, when publisher Activision Blizzard informed the world that it would be cutting staff it was still a sad bit of news if you are to consider what sounds like at least a high amount of people being out of a job.
The news was given today by Blizzard president J. Allen, and confirmed by Kotaku who managed to find a note on upcoming sackings that stated the following: “Over the last few years, many of our non-development teams expanded to support various needs…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. In our regional offices, we anticipate similar evaluations, subject to local requirements.”
Apparently, these changes are meant to hit more non-game development departments more than anything. Concentrating on areas such as esports and publishing.
In a bit of better news, the letter did promise a good severance package wherein laid of individuals would get continued health benefits, job placement assistance, as well as profit-sharing bonuses for the previous year. Which, while doesn’t remove the sting, hopefully, helps individuals while they try to land back on their feet.
We can only wish good luck to all the newly unemployed Blizzard folk, I hope you find a new job soon.
