Activision Blizzard Planning More Layoffs? Kotick Still Getting $200m Cash Bonus

This is going to be a different piece from my normal ones when covering Activision Blizzard. I'm not exactly happy with the news. To be precise, I dislike the news. Nevertheless, it'south more about the timing than anything else. Still, I'm knowledgeable enough most the industry, and even a blind person has been able to spot the direction the games manufacture has been heading. Before we go into the new information, allow's have a fiddling recap.

This is about corporate BS, and I wrote it. Information technology has opinions.

Activision Blizzard is a company doing better than e'er. Information technology is a company that routinely lays hundreds of staff off during its best-e'er years. This includes laying off staff straight involved with making their games better for players while lying to the public by calling them "not-developmental staff". Activision Blizzard was aware of my posts on this and have since made a bespeak to not class localisation, client support and more every bit "non-development", not that it helps.

After laying off over 1000 people, the visitor announced they would need to hire at least 2000 new staff. That's when Activision Blizzard would lay off even more staff, stating that they need to lay off staff for "growth opportunities" and to "stay competitive". Finally, nosotros come to before this calendar week and the news of fifty-fifty more than layoffs, giving laid off staff with a $200 Battle.net gift carte while CEO Bobby Kotick is set to get paid $200 meg in cash. Don't forget the companies long track-record of avoiding paying tens of millions of owed taxes every year.

Let that sink in. Some staff whose jobs are most certainly going to exist needed mail-COVID were laid off when finding a job is as hard every bit possible, were given a $200 Battle.cyberspace souvenir carte. All while Kotick is fix to state a $200 1000000 cash bonus.

And so we come to the most contempo news. In a slice on GamesIndustry.biz, a source has stated that Activision Blizzard is making plans to enter yet another circular of layoffs. These layoffs would proceed the closure of the office in The Netherlands and 1 in France. From what has been said, it seems the company is looking to run all its European operations from a hub in the UK, with layoffs impacting staff in Germany, Kingdom of spain, Sweden, ii offices in The Netherlands and besides staff within the U.k..

In response to being asked about this data, Activision Blizzard stated:

Players are increasingly choosing to connect with our games digitally. We accept shared plans with our teams in Europe for how we would evolve as an organization, adapting to this change to serve our players and best positioning the region for future growth. We will be taking extensive steps to back up all employees and ease the transition for those of our colleagues who might be impacted past these proposed changes.

Essentially, Activision Blizzard is looking to remove the vast bulk of staff that would bargain with publishing within Europe. These are staff that become the games on shelves. As more than players go digital and smaller, independent game stores have a mayfly'due south lifespan, the necessity of publishing staff diminishes. I'thou acutely aware that these people'southward work will land on an even smaller UK team unless Activision Blizzard hires within the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, even while laying some off.

Activision Blizzard is very keen to clarify that these layoffs will not impact localisation and client back up teams. Honestly, I tin can sympathize the consolidation. Digital has been overtaking physical for a long fourth dimension now, and COVID has sped that upward.

As I stated, my complaint comes with the timing. These proposed layoffs will exist the fourth round in just six months, with earlier layoffs impacting key developer roles and ones that will need to be brought back mail service-COVID. These layoffs will be during a pandemic that is stressing almost everybody but Activision Blizzard, who are doing amend than ever. These layoffs too come when Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is prepare to become a $200m cash bonus.

I accept the jobs can be consolidated due to the nature of the digital move. Still, maybe, simply peradventure, the staff that has helped Activision Blizzard make billions upon billions in the by are worth looking after until afterward the pandemic? Agree or not, your option, only I believe companies accept a moral obligation to their staff. Not to proceed them forever, but I'm sure Kotick'due south $200m could be trimmed a little.