Overall, yes. I know quite a few folks who work there and have spent hours on campus myself. Last year I got to spend the whole day there with the WoW team. In 2016 I got to spend half the day with a combo of the Forum Support CS folks and the Diablo team.
The work environment is actually quite nice. Staff seem to be able to set their own schedules (within reason) outside of core meeting hours and such. The exception being those who have public facing jobs like covering the Customer Support Live Chat or Callback lines.
They do seem rather open to people being creative, offering suggestions and ideas, etc. However, once a decision is made you have to go with it.
What staff don’t have the ability to do, is influence the larger top decisions like what business model a game might have. But, they don’t have that power in any other larger company either.
Salary is actually not bad and the benefits are really nice. The issue is that Blizzard headquarters is located in Irvine, CA, which is one of the most expensive places to live in the US. So, even with a decent salary, you won’t be buying a single family home on it easily. Again, this is an issue not exclusive to Blizzard. I asked Mike Morheim in 2016 about the possibility of opening an East Coast Blizzard office, especially given the big push into esports which is popular on the East Coast. (and I wanted an office out here I might be able to work in!). At the time, they were not considering it.
On job security, it is as secure as any other job these days. The days where you get hired and can count on working there 35 years then retiring are long gone. My previous jobs were even less secure than Blizzard because we were dependent on winning contracts and on Govt funding. Sure, I was there 14 years, but it is stressful not knowing.
So, with all that, why would I not work at the current Blizz Irvine office?
-You MUST work from campus on Blizz computers behind their firewall. No telecommute. I have medical issues and for me that is a nightmare. I get why they do it though. It allows them close control over all their game dev info, customer info, and ability to track who accesses what. Security matters and I don’t blame them.
-The cost of living there is insane. I own my own 3 bedroom house with a yard, garage, etc. For the cost of my mortgage I could rent a room in a shared dwelling out there. No thanks. Oh, and I probably could not keep all 3 of my cats.
-My family is East coast. My parents are older and my niece is only 8. I want to be there to see her grow up as well as to spend time with my parents while I can.
-I like seasons weather wise.
So, for me, it is not that Blizzard is bad at all. It really is not and I know people who have been happy there for 10+ years. It is that there are negatives to moving out there that impact me family wise and don’t work with my disabilities.