Activision Blizzard Cuts 8% of Jobs Amid 'Record Results In 2018'

On an earnings call this afternoon, publisher Activision Blizzard said that it would be eliminating 8% of its staff. 'In 2018, Activision Blizzard had roughly 9,600 employees, which would mean nearly 800 people are now out of work,' reports Kotaku. 'This afternoon, the mega-publisher began notifying those who are being laid off across its various organizations, which include Activision, Blizzard, and King.' From the report: On the earnings call, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick told investors that the company had 'once again achieved record results in 2018' but that the company would be consolidating and restructuring because of missed expectations for 2018 and lowered expectations for 2019. The company said it would be cutting mainly non-game-development departments and bolstering its development staff for franchises like Call of Duty and Diablo. Development sources from across the industry told Kotaku this afternoon that the layoffs have affected Activision publishing, Blizzard, King, and some of Activision's studios, including High Moon. At Blizzard, the layoffs appear to only have affected non-game-development departments, such as publishing and esports, both of which were expected to be hit hard. 'Over the last few years, many of our non-development teams expanded to support various needs,' Blizzard president J. Allen Brack said in a note to staff. '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.'
Thankfully, the letter promised 'a comprehensive severance package,' 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. 'There's no way to make this transition easy for impacted employees, but we are doing what we can to support our colleagues,' Brack wrote.

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