Another week and another round of Activision-Blizzard being in the headlines for even more negative reasons. Sources close to the company told Bloomberg that roughly 50 employees were let go from the esports division as well as an undisclosed number from other divisions. The layoffs land as Activision aims to move away from live events after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to pursue digital events.
MORE: It wasn’t just esports and live events. Activision Blizzard also laid off others across the company including at King, developer of Candy Crush, sources tell Bloomberg. An Activision spokesperson confirmed but did not say how many other people were laid off.
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 16, 2021
The sudden news of these layoffs stands in stark contrast to statements made by Activision-Blizzard roughly a month ago claiming their revenues had hit all-time highs. Their online events including last month’s Blizzconline were seemingly enough proof for them to pursue these types of events indefinitely.
Bloomberg’s source went on to say that U.S.-based employees were receiving a severance package that included a year’s health insurance. But don’t worry. In case that’s not seemingly enough for their talented and hard-working teams, they will also be receiving $200 gift cards to Battle.net. Which is the equivalent of someone burning down your house and then letting keep your lamp.
Touting your company’s booming success and revenue to only turn around a few weeks later and lay off employees is just one in a long line of Activision-Blizzard’s many questionable practices, to put it mildly. Over the last few years, they have positioned themselves in the industry as one of the major companies that love to make questionable and often unethical decisions as well as continuously refuse to read the room.
I wish the best to all of the employees affected by these decisions and I wish for Activision-Blizzard to simply do better.
