Mass layoffs at Activision Blizzard on the way

~gameinformer.com/2019/02/08/report-mass-layoffs-at-activision-blizzard-will-result-in-hundreds-of-lost-jobs
Yikes

Bloomberg is reporting an upcoming plan from Activision Blizzard to lay off hundreds of workers as the company attempts to restructure and centralize its operations.

Sources tell us the layoffs will will come from different parts of the company, including Blizzard, though it’s not clear what parts of the studio will be affected. At the end of 2017, Activision employed 9800 people across all sections of the corporation.

The news comes after a rocky few months for Activision. While Call of Duty has been performing well, some things like the split with Bungie, Forsaken not meeting sales expectations, and flat numbers for games like Overwatch have resulted in a weaker price for Activision’s stock, which has declined nearly 2.5 percent today.

Activision is expected to make the official announcement on Tuesday.

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And here we go.

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Yeah can’t say I was not expecting this with the news of cost cutting and then the stockprice tanking

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maximize profit. kill morale. assimilate everything.

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Cool to know that the author has insider information.

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This is what happens when a well established company hires people with egos the size of Texas. Instead of listening to their player base they begin to designing their games around the egos instead of paying customers.
Then they begin to insult and mock their customer base and get further wounded by self inflicted injuries (IE: flying).
Until those who have the power step in and clean house this downhill spiral will only continue.

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That is in the article

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My guess is, unlike you, he “READS”. It was in the article.

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Have a feeling the layoffs will include a few big names

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I knew they were employing actual zombies!

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I’m researching Labor laws from the 30’s, I don’t have time to read an article.

I’ll edit to correct.

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The very top only have a working life expectancy of about 3 years.

So they try to make as much money as much as they can any way possible no matter how many warnings or how much common sense is thrown out the window. If it means a bigger bonus they’ll do it.

Then they move on to the next corporation to screw over.

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I guess this confirms all the reports of trouble at ATVI and bad moral. They probably have been expecting this for a while.

Now I wonder how this might pact the rest of the expansion and the next one

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Your link is broken

https://www.gameinformer.com/2019/02/08/report-mass-layoffs-at-activision-blizzard-will-result-in-hundreds-of-lost-jobs

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It always sucks to hear things like this because these are actual people getting laid off. I may not like Activision/blizzard and what they are these days but I have no ill feelings for the workers.

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I’ll wait until I hear the announcement on Tuesday to see what exactly is going on.

So far any “lay offs” have all been non essential personal that have nothing to do with the creative side of the game.

Considering they are trying to centralize operations, i would expect something similar. IT depts, etc.

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Yep it always sucks because generally the ones that need to get let go, stay

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Their stock just took a nose dive a couple days ago.
Not that in itself means much. But added to all the other evidence things arent looking too good right now.

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Source article -

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-08/activision-is-said-to-plan-job-cuts-as-sales-of-key-games-stall

EDIT - Did not realise Bloomberg has a finite amount of articles you are allowed to read before you need to subscribe for unlimited access. So here’s the whole article -

A painful stretch for the video-game industry isn’t over.

Activision Blizzard Inc. plans to announce job cuts Tuesday in the face of slowing sales, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing fresh upheaval after spotty results roiled stocks this week. The shares dropped as much as 2.5 percent to $42.88 on Friday.

The layoffs, which could number in the hundreds, are part of a restructuring aimed at centralizing functions and boosting profit, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the changes haven’t been announced. Activision employed 9,800 people at the end of 2017.

The game maker, one of the largest in the world, acknowledged on a November conference call that some key titles, such as Overwatch and Hearthstone, were seeing flat or declining numbers of users. After disappointing sales of Destiny 2: Forsaken, the company parted ways with its developer, Bungie Inc., a move that could reduce annual revenue by as much as $400 million.

Analysts expect Activision’s sales to decline by about 2 percent this year, to $7.28 billion.

How Video-Game Giants Are Struggling

The company, which has bulked up over the years through acquisitions, including PC-game maker Blizzard Entertainment and mobile-game company King Digital, has historically given its various divisions considerable autonomy under longtime Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick.

Executive Departures

Over the past year, a number of executives have left, including Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, and Mike Morhaime, the longtime head of Blizzard.

On New Year’s Eve, Activision said it was firing Chief Financial Officer Spencer Neumann – shortly before he took the same position at Netflix Inc. Tim Kilpin, a toy-industry veteran recruited to lead Activision’s consumer-products division two years ago, retired this month.

Activision isn’t alone in stumbling. Electronic Arts shares fell 13 percent Wednesday after the company confessed that some of its biggest releases disappointed. But it rebounded later in the week.

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. fell by a similar amount Wednesday after forecasting sales this quarter that were $100 million below Wall Street forecasts. The results were a reminder that video games are still a hit-driven business, rising and falling based on unpredictable consumers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-08/activision-is-said-to-plan-job-cuts-as-sales-of-key-games-stall

Also if your going to copypasta don’t forget to add the Bloomberg URL :slight_smile:

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It’s pretty simple . ATVI stock price tanked, they are not meeting expectations so in order to increase the stock.price they are going to layoff quite a few people across the board. The question is what percentage of the employees get let go. If it’s to boost stock price it’s likely to be significant