They’re option grants; better performance = higher value.
Outsized or disparate severance packages are not a basic rule of capitalism.
It is NOT certain that Activision-Blizzard is in that much trouble.
If they were to go bankrupt, it is NOT certain that Blizzard Entertainment would be sold off to a new owner.
If Blizzard Entertainment were be sold off, it is NOT guaranteed that flight would be restored (or even that WoW would be continued) everything would be on the line in that scenario.
Dream on, and hope that the pessimists are wrong this time.
Well earned Blizzard…Congrats!
1 Like
“Only.”
I wish I got paid only a few lazy million just for accepting a job before they even knew I was capable of doing it properly.
2 Likes
But see…we literally already know he is capable of doing the job.
And the person I was responding to said he should only get 1/2 of his bonus until he gets results. I am saying they did that and more.
1 Like
I do not like where this going. I’ve seen craptastic Game Publishing companies destroy passion-based gaming masterpieces with greed.
Sounds like EA’s policy.
1 Like
Considering BfA, I think it’s safe to say that QA got cut a while ago.
2 Likes
I’m sorry to say, assuming this is like most corporations, he will get that money no matter what happens, and likely more. No way they will have to get by with just the $900,000 base salary.
Unfortunately in layoffs it will always be the lower level people, not the lead designers and management who are actually responsible for the state of the games.
1 Like
Ok. Well. The fact is, he gets a 3 million bonus. And the rest is stock options based on performance and incentives. Things like getting blizzard stock to a certain price, etc.
So its a little bit of both.
1 Like
So why are his bonuses directly tied to his performance, then?
Which isn’t to leave aside the fact that paying anyone millions as a welcome gift while kicking hundreds of your loyal employees into poverty is a dog act.
Yeah, yeah yeah. “IT’S JUST BUSINESS.”
Like the comedy radio show said years ago, these guys will be the first with their back against the wall when the revolution comes.
3 Likes
Well…yeah…you lay off positions via getting rid of that position. If you get rid of a person, and keep the position and just promote/hire someone new for it thats just called “firing”.
1 Like
Because incentive based bonuses give you…an…incentive? to perform the job well?
Now if he wants the extra reward he has to perform well.
Are you arguing they should have given him the full 15 million worth of awards/whatever without taking into any consideration how well he will do?
Performance based bonuses are pretty common in nearly every industry.
1 Like
No, I’m arguing that even the base amount was obscene, and if they didn’t think he could do the job they paid him five of most peoples’ lifetimes of salary for, then perhaps they should have cut their losses and saved the cash.
Not sure if you’ve noticed, but obscene payouts like this at the direct expense of regular employees are becoming rather unpopular.
3 Likes
They do still have a QA team currently though, imagine if it gets cut back even further though. Players will essentially be taking their place at that point, and every major release will be “launch now, fix later” which is exactly the opposite of what Blizzard was originally all about.
1 Like
Sadly this isn’t good news for anyone.
Remember jobs equates to people’s livelyhoods… and while I hate the direction the game is going … if they couldn’t get it done with a “full” team … what will happen with less.
1 Like
Yes I know that.
But ignoring the fact that we’re talking about three million dollars on top of almost a million base salary, I’ve seen over and over through the years how these things actually work.
Corporate cultures do vary, but for the most part, especially with US companies where the C suite to average worker spread is so much larger, and is growing so much faster, than either the rest of the world, or our own economy historically excepting the so called “gilded age” of the 1870s to about 1900 for that matter, incentive bonuses are more a sinecure than anything. It isn’t long ago that we saw executives receive multimillion dollar bonuses for their performance handling the bankruptcy they caused.
That’s just how it works.
2 Likes
Arbitrary.
They do think he could do the job. That’s why they hired him.
Neither large payouts nor their unpopularity with many are new.
2 Likes
I’d angle more towards “tone deaf,” personally.
As long as things do not change in the game for the better I am more than happy to see Activision Blizzard slowly bleed out. Maybe it will lead to desperate measures such as listening to the community to improve the quality of their games. As long as they keep putting PR and stockholders before the customers I feel this downward trend will continue.
4 Likes