This will be a different piece from my normal ones when covering Activision Blizzard. I’m not exactly happy with the news. To be precise, I don’t like the news. However, it is more about the timing than anything else. However, I have enough knowledge about the industry, and even a blind person is able to identify the direction the game industry is taking. Before we get into the new information, let’s recap a little bit.
This is about corporate BS, and I wrote it. You have opinions.
Activision Blizzard is a better company than ever. It is a company that routinely fires hundreds of employees during its best years. This includes firing employees directly involved in making their games better for players, while lying to the public, calling them “non-developmental employees”. Activision Blizzard was aware of my posts on this and has since made a point of not classifying the location, customer support and more as “non-development”, not that it helps.
After laying off more than 1,000 people, the company announced that it would need to hire at least 2,000 new employees. That’s when Activision Blizzard dismisses even more employees, saying that they need to fire staff for “growth opportunities” and “staying competitive”. Finally, we reach the beginning of this week and news of even more layoffs, giving the fired team a $ 200 Battle.net gift card, while CEO Bobby Kotick will receive $ 200 million in cash. Don’t forget the long history of companies in avoiding paying tens of millions of taxes owed every year.
Let that happen. Some employees whose jobs will certainly be needed after COVID has been dismissed when finding a job is as difficult as possible, have received a $ 200 Battle.net gift card. Meanwhile, Kotick is expected to receive a $ 200 million cash bonus.
Then we come to the latest news. In an article on GamesIndustry.biz, a source said that Activision Blizzard is making plans to enter yet another round of layoffs. These layoffs would continue with the office closing in the Netherlands and another in France. From what has been said, it appears that the company is looking to manage all of its European operations from a hub in the UK, with layoffs affecting employees in Germany, Spain, Sweden, two offices in the Netherlands and also employees in the UK.
In response to the question about this information, Activision Blizzard stated:
Players are increasingly choosing to connect with our games digitally. We share plans with our teams in Europe on how we would evolve as an organization, adapting to this change to serve our players and better positioning the region for future growth. We will be taking extensive steps to support all employees and facilitate the transition for those of our colleagues who may be affected by these proposed changes.
Essentially, Activision Blizzard is looking to remove the vast majority of the team that would handle publishing in Europe. These are the employees who put the games on the shelves. As more players become digital and smaller, independent game stores lose their useful lives, the need for a publishing team decreases. I am well aware that their work will fall on an even smaller team in the UK, unless Activision Blizzard hires in the UK, even while firing some.
Activision Blizzard is keen to clarify that these layoffs will not affect the localization and customer support teams. Honestly, I can understand consolidation. Digital has surpassed physics a long time ago, and COVID has accelerated that.
As I stated, my complaint comes with the moment. These proposed layoffs will be the fourth round in just six months, with previous layoffs affecting the developer’s key roles and those that will need to be resumed after COVID. These layoffs will occur during a pandemic that is stressing almost everyone, except Activision Blizzard, which is better than ever. These layoffs also occur when Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is due to receive a $ 200 million cash bonus.
I accept that the works can be consolidated due to the nature of the digital movement. Still, maybe, just maybe, is it worth taking care of the team that helped Activision Blizzard earn billions and billions in the past until after the pandemic? I agree or not, it is your choice, but I believe that companies have a moral obligation to their employees. Not to keep them forever, but I’m sure Kotick’s $ 200 million could be reduced a little bit.