Is it unethical for other people to spend their money as they please? Seriously what qualifies you, any of you, to make that determination? It is absurd how people posit themselves as the arbiters of ethics .
If Activision Blizzard offends you that much, stop doing business with them.
They probably are.
That’s the first thing I thought when I read about the layoffs.
Its shifting investments that are losing to investments with potential gains.
They’re investing in you/us!
Yeah. Screw the workers - just give me my $200 million bonus!
Totally ethical.
Of COURSE we are. That’s how we determine slavery, mass murder, genocide and screwing over other people is unethical. If you’re confused about the ethics of taking a $200 million bonus (on top of your salary) while laying off workers that you could easily employ in other areas, then that’s on you.
They didn’t “screw” the workers, they layed off those that they didn’t need in the future. Companies don’t exist to provide jobs or make products, they exist to make money. The people who own/operate the company chose who they wish to retain and those they wish to terminate. The CEO was compensated with money (not MINE or yours ) that belonged to the givers .
One more time for the neo-Marxists, that 200 million was NOT yours or the workers, it belong to the company, and they chose to give THEIR money to the CEO.
How are commies still a thing in 2021? IF you truly believe in this crap, I am sure you would be welcomed in one of the many socialist utopias around the world.
What a convenient deflection tactic.
All business assume a level of ethical consideration when they’re granted permission to operate in any society. Other wise, they’re not a business, but a criminal enterprise, acting outside the scope of law and society.
Ethics is and foremost essential to whether or not a business is even legitimate.
Mm hmmm…
Anyway, we could actually look at the point of the conversation itself and sort of pick it apart.
What currency was Bobby Kotick given his bonus in? What value is represented by that? Who gives value to shares in Activision Blizzard? Where do shares come from? What role does a CEO have in creating share value?
I feel bad for you, I really do. It’s not an either/or dilemma. Here’s a sample of a few ethical CEO’s that have made decisions with their company, their employees, AND their profits in mind:
https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/ceo-who-took-a-1m-salary-cut-to-pay-employees-70k-is-thriving-5211a092ee78
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/29/business/tim-boyle-columbia-sportswear-salary-coronavirus-trnd/index.html
https://www.yahoo.com/now/48-ceos-taking-pay-cuts-200003563.html
People who have absolutely no regard for anyone else might find it hard to understand that there are CEO’s and other business moguls who feel a responsibility for those they employ. These people run their corporations ethically because they have ethics. It really IS that simple.
Your bringing up communism is just stupid and hasn’t a thing to do with it. It’s just called being a good person.
And, taking care of ALL your stakeholders is good business.
I always find it a little amusing when people who do nothing but accuse Blizzard employees of lying and constantly tell them how awful they are at their jobs, express faux outage when Blizzard lays people off. Anyways, Activision Blizzard is looking to hire 3,000 people over the course of 2021. Funny how that little bit of information is completely absent across all these threads.
Gotta keep the Blizzard bad outrage train goin yo. If they stop they might actually realize they’re wasting their lives being mad about a video game.
I bet you’re outraged by “cancel culture”.
A video game run by a corporation that employs close to 200 fewer people. But you don’t know them so I’m sure you don’t care.
Tbh theres alot more stuff to care about than a gaming company laying off some workers with a compensation package, like iunno…anything else?
its pretty sad that most private servers have more active and involved GM’s
there’s plenty of passionate, responsible people that would do it for free. Blizzard is missing out on a lot of potential.
Potential thieves.
Why do you think YOUR sense of ethics is universal? Random WoW forum harpy presumes to be the arbiter of ethics for the modern era and anyone who disagrees isn’t a “good” person. Seriously?!?
When you get hired, it’s not for life, it’s for as long as they need you. Unless you are related to the owner or part of the management team, getting laid off at the end of a project is normal. It’s not like you are being marooned on a desert island, go collect unemployment and find another job. Nobody owes you anything!
Companies do not exist to employ people, they exist to make money, workers with no work don’t make money, companies with no money go bankrupt, bankrupt companies employ no one.
Probably, though that also depends upon one’s perspective. As a manager myself I often consider the work of my reports to be “harder” in a lot of ways, but when I encourage them to try higher duties they usually become intimidated and frightened by the responsibility - something that doesn’t worry me at all. A family friend of mine had a mental breakdown from anxiety after years of being a successful executive because of the stress that his signature could make or break millions of dollars for his company.
Also, CEOs and business owners assume a higher level of risk than professionals of those industries. And our society only exists as it does today because we can - and should - celebrate entrepreneurs who take those risks. If everybody was a doctor or a teacher, progress would would still and we’d never develop our society any further than we currently are.
I hope nobody mistakes my prior posts to suggest Bobby doesn’t deserve a high salary. My only argument was that people greatly overestimate the influence of CEOs in achieving market outcomes, which suggests to me that his $200m payout may have been a result of cognitive bias rather than considered decision making. CEOs still work long hours and shoulder a great deal of stress and responsibility.
So although we’ve witnessed an inspiring conversation about the merits of Bobby Kotick and also the merits of one company’s CEO worthy of receiving a 200m bonus, to get back to the OP:
Do we think that Blizz has both the means and the opportunity to hire more Game Masters? And would it help to combat things like exploits and botting?
I personally think having more GMs would be an awesome thing. 
Yea i read that back in November as well.