A new wave of layoffs at Activision Blizzard

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  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
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    @GoLLuM13 compared the saga of Activision Blizzard to a soap opera. The opera doesn't disappoint and a new episode was aired just a couple of days ago.

    In spite of record sales of Diablo IV and high earnings due to those, the company decided to lay off part of its esports division. Allegedly the action came as a complete shock to the affected employees and none of them were given any prior warning or chance to change positions.

    Some of the employees are speculating that the whole division may share their fate, as they were working on a large, unfinished project for managing esports and there was no ready replacement.

    Source: The Verge.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
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  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    @Saka Soap opera this might be, this is sad news. I wonder if Activision Blizzard does this before Microsoft gets it and the reasoning may be that Microsoft has its own specialist for those roles. But even if so, doing that in this manner with no prior warning is bad, and to make matters worse, it is not the first time this happens in the last year even. We already have a strike of writers and actors, the last thing we need is a strike of game devs too, but they really should be treated better.
  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch I agree. The company clearly could have afforded to keep the employees and just move them to other tasks or give them time to search for different opportunities. This is leaving bad taste. Unfortunately, with "at will" employment in the US these things are so common and people don't protest enough - there are very few unions and companies are good at union busting.

    The irony is that this esports division at Activision Blizzard used to handle StarCraft II tournaments, which were actually successful and once very popular, attracting a lot of viewers. Then they decided that Overwatch is the next best thing and moved all the resources to OW, abandoning SC2 and canning all the resources for it. The whole SC2 community was anticipating from the beginning that this is not going to end up well, because OW is a very different game and there's already big competition in this format, whereas SC2 was the big player in RTS.

    Well, they were right.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • GoLLuM13's Avatar
    Level 52
    @Saka why am I thinking about Barbie the movie right now ? 😂
    - Oh Ken don't leave me !!
    - Sorry Barbie I got to move on right now, maybe our ways will cross again !!
    - Oh no !! Ken !! Don't say that, I can't live without you
    - Neither can I Barbie, you are the best ! I will come back, I promise !!
    - I'll be there waiting for you, my dear Ken !!
    (in the meantime Barbie is petting, swimming, cooking and the new Barbie for 2023 you can choose the hair cut and the color of her hair too, and don't miss the new Barbie Puzzle 3D 😂)

    Sorry for the off-topic
    Tag me to be sure I see the answer and reply to you / Taguez moi pour être sûr que je vois la réponse et vous réponde en retour
    Most of my writings in no particular order (mostly in French) / La plupart de mes écrits sans ordre particulier
    >> HERE/ ICI <<

  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @GoLLuM13 Damn, I need to watch the movie. I have to wait until it's available in streaming services somewhere, because my hearing situation doesn't allow me to go to the cinema. In the future I can probably get by with the open captions in Finnish, as shows don't get dubbed here except the kids movies, but right now it's too much cognitive load.

    It's a "my Finnish is rusty and I don't want to think with me hurting head' situation. 😅

    But the reviews for the Barbie film are great and it looked amazing in the trailer / pics.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • GoLLuM13's Avatar
    Level 52
    @Saka I never thought I would say this in public, but I want to watch this movie 😂 and I'll also wait when it will be available in French on a streaming platform
    Tag me to be sure I see the answer and reply to you / Taguez moi pour être sûr que je vois la réponse et vous réponde en retour
    Most of my writings in no particular order (mostly in French) / La plupart de mes écrits sans ordre particulier
    >> HERE/ ICI <<

  • DoctorEldritch's Avatar
    Community Manager
    @GoLLuM13 The Barbie movie was just released today, and you managed to watch it already? That's fast!
    @Saka I guess we'll see what happens. Microsoft had some layoffs of its own not too long ago, so it is unlikely they would be actively fixing that problem when they accrue Activision. It is worrying how the software developer market, lucrative though it is, is becoming increasingly turbulent.
  • GoLLuM13's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch you can be reassured, I haven't watched it yet 🤣 I just had a thought about it
    Tag me to be sure I see the answer and reply to you / Taguez moi pour être sûr que je vois la réponse et vous réponde en retour
    Most of my writings in no particular order (mostly in French) / La plupart de mes écrits sans ordre particulier
    >> HERE/ ICI <<

  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DoctorEldritch A lot of the big companies overestimated the demand for software developers and hired more than they actually needed, which lead to the massive layoffs in 2022 and 2023. Practices like this make me wary about applying to big companies. The do give a big boost on the CV, but people often experience burnout and uncertainty of their position.

    - - - Updated - - -
    @GoLLuM13 Apparently Ryan Gosling as Ken is amazing. Margot Robbie is not a shabby actress either.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
  • GoLLuM13's Avatar
    Level 52
    @Saka Margot Robbie 😍
    Tag me to be sure I see the answer and reply to you / Taguez moi pour être sûr que je vois la réponse et vous réponde en retour
    Most of my writings in no particular order (mostly in French) / La plupart de mes écrits sans ordre particulier
    >> HERE/ ICI <<