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Activision Blizzard fires almost 800 employees
Activision Blizzard published its quarterly earnings for 2018. The company achieved a record turnover, but at the same time 8 percent of the employees were made redundant, which is 800 people out of 9600 employees.
They announced in their publication of the quarterly figures that it is increasingly going to focus on its largest franchises with titles like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Overwatch, Warcraft and Diablo. Mostly, staff are dismissed that is not directly involved in the development of games. According to sources of game site Kotaku there is cut in the publishing and e-sports divisions.
“Over the last few years, many of our non-development teams expanded to support various needs,” Blizzard president J. Allen Brack said in a note to staff around 1pm PT that was obtained by Kotaku. “Currently staffing levels on some teams are out of proportion with our current release slate. This means we need to scale down some areas of our organization. I’m sorry to share that we will be parting ways with some of our colleagues in the U.S. today. In our regional offices, we anticipate similar evaluations, subject to local requirements.”
The letter also promised “a comprehensive severance package,” continued health benefits, career coaching, and job placement assistance as well as profit-sharing bonuses for the previous year to those who are being laid off at Blizzard. (Blizzard employees receive twice yearly bonuses based on how the company performed financially.) “There’s no way to make this transition easy for impacted employees, but we are doing what we can to support our colleagues,” Brack wrote.
The news follows months of rumors about layoffs at the publisher, which heated up early last week as word began to spread that hundreds of people across Activision Blizzard’s various divisions might lose their jobs. Leading up to today, some of the publisher’s employees had been coming to work with no clue as to what might happen. One person at Blizzard told me this morning that as employees arrived, they cried and exchanged hugs in the parking lot.
Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard's CEO, said at the announcement of the quarterly figures that the financial results for 2018 are the best in the history of the company, but that 'not the full potential was realized'.
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metagamer
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#5640033 Posted on: 02/15/2019 12:36 PM
laying off redundant bloat, nothing wrong with that. Blizzard are also hiring for more relevant positions. No need to get upset.
laying off redundant bloat, nothing wrong with that. Blizzard are also hiring for more relevant positions. No need to get upset.
fantaskarsef
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#5640041 Posted on: 02/15/2019 12:56 PM
While you are right, this is not how it all came together. It's not about layoffs alone.
People are upset about layoffs AND how it was communicated AND the company's shape in total. Revenue is up, manager wanker gets $15M bonus, 800 people laid off. That picture just looks quite wrong.
In my personal opinion, that $15M bonus is a waste of money anyway... 900k yearly salary with 15 times that as a bonus? That's illogical. That brings people to do anything for their bonus, which is so 90s, if this is still top management strategies, management has obsoleted itself.
The company would have gained much more by firing the CEO and putting a new person in that's already in the company, cut their bonues by half, and use those $7.5M to hire new devs. You'd see that actual worth increases, since that manager does not actually create any wealth for a company. If so, he'd have to create way more than $15M to even justify such a bonus.
laying off redundant bloat, nothing wrong with that. Blizzard are also hiring for more relevant positions. No need to get upset.
While you are right, this is not how it all came together. It's not about layoffs alone.
People are upset about layoffs AND how it was communicated AND the company's shape in total. Revenue is up, manager wanker gets $15M bonus, 800 people laid off. That picture just looks quite wrong.
In my personal opinion, that $15M bonus is a waste of money anyway... 900k yearly salary with 15 times that as a bonus? That's illogical. That brings people to do anything for their bonus, which is so 90s, if this is still top management strategies, management has obsoleted itself.
The company would have gained much more by firing the CEO and putting a new person in that's already in the company, cut their bonues by half, and use those $7.5M to hire new devs. You'd see that actual worth increases, since that manager does not actually create any wealth for a company. If so, he'd have to create way more than $15M to even justify such a bonus.
Amaze
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#5640139 Posted on: 02/15/2019 05:11 PM
While you are right, this is not how it all came together. It's not about layoffs alone.
People are upset about layoffs AND how it was communicated AND the company's shape in total. Revenue is up, manager wanker gets $15M bonus, 800 people laid off. That picture just looks quite wrong.
In my personal opinion, that $15M bonus is a waste of money anyway... 900k yearly salary with 15 times that as a bonus? That's illogical. That brings people to do anything for their bonus, which is so 90s, if this is still top management strategies, management has obsoleted itself.
The company would have gained much more by firing the CEO and putting a new person in that's already in the company, cut their bonues by half, and use those $7.5M to hire new devs. You'd see that actual worth increases, since that manager does not actually create any wealth for a company. If so, he'd have to create way more than $15M to even justify such a bonus.
Just to clarify, he didn't get a 15 mill bonus just handed to him. A great deal of it is in stocks with strings attached. I don't speak economics but this is from his contract:
Appointment of Dennis Durkin as Chief Financial Officer of the Company
On January 2, 2019, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Dennis Durkin to be the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Durkin, 48, joined the Company in March 2012 as Chief Financial Officer and served in that role until May 2017. He served as Chief Corporate Officer of the Company from May 2017 until January 1, 2019. In connection with this appointment, the Company and Mr. Durkin have agreed to the terms of employment summarized below. These terms will be memorialized in an instrument to be entered into between the Company and Mr. Durkin.
Mr. Durkin’s term of employment as Chief Financial Officer began on January 2, 2019 and will continue until terminated by either the Company or Mr. Durkin upon specified prior notice. The terms of employment provide for: (a) a minimum annual base salary of $900,000, (b) eligibility to receive annual discretionary bonuses targeted at 150% of base salary, and (c) eligibility for $3 million of life insurance and other benefits generally available to Company executives.
Mr. Durkin will receive a cash sign-on bonus in an amount equal to 4.167 times his annual base salary. This amount must be repaid to the Company by Mr. Durkin if he is terminated for cause or resigns before January 2, 2020.
Mr. Durkin will also be granted, subject to the Compensation Committee’s approval, equity awards in the form of performance-vesting restricted share units (“PSUs”) having a target value at grant of 12.5 times his annual base salary (with maximum performance value to be determined). The PSUs will vest in March, 2020 and 2021, subject to the achievement of specified financial performance requirements relating to operating income and earnings per share metrics and generally subject to continuing employment on the vesting dates.
Also, he's not the CEO as you can see. Kotick holds that position after Morhaime left.
And naturally, Blizzard France is making cuts as well. Engagement is down globally so it just makes sense.
Title is a bit clickbaity but it's not looking great:
While you are right, this is not how it all came together. It's not about layoffs alone.
People are upset about layoffs AND how it was communicated AND the company's shape in total. Revenue is up, manager wanker gets $15M bonus, 800 people laid off. That picture just looks quite wrong.
In my personal opinion, that $15M bonus is a waste of money anyway... 900k yearly salary with 15 times that as a bonus? That's illogical. That brings people to do anything for their bonus, which is so 90s, if this is still top management strategies, management has obsoleted itself.
The company would have gained much more by firing the CEO and putting a new person in that's already in the company, cut their bonues by half, and use those $7.5M to hire new devs. You'd see that actual worth increases, since that manager does not actually create any wealth for a company. If so, he'd have to create way more than $15M to even justify such a bonus.
Just to clarify, he didn't get a 15 mill bonus just handed to him. A great deal of it is in stocks with strings attached. I don't speak economics but this is from his contract:
Appointment of Dennis Durkin as Chief Financial Officer of the Company
On January 2, 2019, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (the “Company”) appointed Dennis Durkin to be the Chief Financial Officer of the Company. Mr. Durkin, 48, joined the Company in March 2012 as Chief Financial Officer and served in that role until May 2017. He served as Chief Corporate Officer of the Company from May 2017 until January 1, 2019. In connection with this appointment, the Company and Mr. Durkin have agreed to the terms of employment summarized below. These terms will be memorialized in an instrument to be entered into between the Company and Mr. Durkin.
Mr. Durkin’s term of employment as Chief Financial Officer began on January 2, 2019 and will continue until terminated by either the Company or Mr. Durkin upon specified prior notice. The terms of employment provide for: (a) a minimum annual base salary of $900,000, (b) eligibility to receive annual discretionary bonuses targeted at 150% of base salary, and (c) eligibility for $3 million of life insurance and other benefits generally available to Company executives.
Mr. Durkin will receive a cash sign-on bonus in an amount equal to 4.167 times his annual base salary. This amount must be repaid to the Company by Mr. Durkin if he is terminated for cause or resigns before January 2, 2020.
Mr. Durkin will also be granted, subject to the Compensation Committee’s approval, equity awards in the form of performance-vesting restricted share units (“PSUs”) having a target value at grant of 12.5 times his annual base salary (with maximum performance value to be determined). The PSUs will vest in March, 2020 and 2021, subject to the achievement of specified financial performance requirements relating to operating income and earnings per share metrics and generally subject to continuing employment on the vesting dates.
Also, he's not the CEO as you can see. Kotick holds that position after Morhaime left.
And naturally, Blizzard France is making cuts as well. Engagement is down globally so it just makes sense.
Title is a bit clickbaity but it's not looking great:
Four Hundred Blizzard France Employees Still Don't Know If They're Laid Off
fantaskarsef
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#5640185 Posted on: 02/15/2019 07:03 PM
Just to clarify, he didn't get a 15 mill bonus just handed to him. A great deal of it is in stocks with strings attached. I don't speak economics but this is from his contract:
Also, he's not the CEO as you can see. Kotick holds that position after Morhaime left.
And naturally, Blizzard France is making cuts as well. Engagement is down globally so it just makes sense.
Title is a bit clickbaity but it's not looking great:
Thanks for sharing the details.
All in all it's still a weird sight, a huge bonus with layoffs told about with the same breath. He's not the only one getting a bonus after all, so those $15M aren't the only bonus money going out while 800 people get fired.
If you don't see why some people think this is not supposed to go that way, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it to you either.
Just to clarify, he didn't get a 15 mill bonus just handed to him. A great deal of it is in stocks with strings attached. I don't speak economics but this is from his contract:
Also, he's not the CEO as you can see. Kotick holds that position after Morhaime left.
And naturally, Blizzard France is making cuts as well. Engagement is down globally so it just makes sense.
Title is a bit clickbaity but it's not looking great:
Four Hundred Blizzard France Employees Still Don't Know If They're Laid Off
Thanks for sharing the details.
All in all it's still a weird sight, a huge bonus with layoffs told about with the same breath. He's not the only one getting a bonus after all, so those $15M aren't the only bonus money going out while 800 people get fired.
If you don't see why some people think this is not supposed to go that way, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it to you either.
Amaze
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#5640232 Posted on: 02/15/2019 09:22 PM
Thanks for sharing the details.
All in all it's still a weird sight, a huge bonus with layoffs told about with the same breath. He's not the only one getting a bonus after all, so those $15M aren't the only bonus money going out while 800 people get fired.
If you don't see why some people think this is not supposed to go that way, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it to you either.
I know what you mean. My point was simply that 15 million has not been removed from the company's cashflow, it's a pretty significant difference between stocks and cash that most people skip over.
And yes, disgusting bonuses and gigantic salaries could have been spent on the little folks, but the whole idea here is that these positions that were let go aren't needed right now.
Blizzard doesn't have anything big launching in 2019, who knows if they'll have something in 2020. They'll have to rehire some of those positions as they get closer to release.
Some of the 600 people laid off in 2012 were rehired later.
Unfortunately they also have to give the high positions big money, or some other company will snatch them up instead. Like Netflix did with Blizzard's previous CFO.
Thanks for sharing the details.
All in all it's still a weird sight, a huge bonus with layoffs told about with the same breath. He's not the only one getting a bonus after all, so those $15M aren't the only bonus money going out while 800 people get fired.
If you don't see why some people think this is not supposed to go that way, I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it to you either.
I know what you mean. My point was simply that 15 million has not been removed from the company's cashflow, it's a pretty significant difference between stocks and cash that most people skip over.
And yes, disgusting bonuses and gigantic salaries could have been spent on the little folks, but the whole idea here is that these positions that were let go aren't needed right now.
Blizzard doesn't have anything big launching in 2019, who knows if they'll have something in 2020. They'll have to rehire some of those positions as they get closer to release.
Some of the 600 people laid off in 2012 were rehired later.
Unfortunately they also have to give the high positions big money, or some other company will snatch them up instead. Like Netflix did with Blizzard's previous CFO.
The Laughing Ma
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#5640294 Posted on: 02/16/2019 12:10 AM
And yes, disgusting bonuses and gigantic salaries could have been spent on the little folks, but the whole idea here is that these positions that were let go aren't needed right now.
Blizzard doesn't have anything big launching in 2019, who knows if they'll have something in 2020. They'll have to rehire some of those positions as they get closer to release.
and why is that? I am willing to bet that a good portion of those 800 folk that are getting the boot had no process in the decisions over the last few years that have resulted in them having nothing of worth coming out in the near future. The issue is not just the fact that these folk have lost their jobs due to 'restructuring and their positions becoming obsolete' it is that the people who are responsible for the decision making that has resulted in this obsolescence will not only most likely be keeping their jobs but will no doubt be getting some nice little bonuses on the back of these quarterly results.
And yes, disgusting bonuses and gigantic salaries could have been spent on the little folks, but the whole idea here is that these positions that were let go aren't needed right now.
Blizzard doesn't have anything big launching in 2019, who knows if they'll have something in 2020. They'll have to rehire some of those positions as they get closer to release.
and why is that? I am willing to bet that a good portion of those 800 folk that are getting the boot had no process in the decisions over the last few years that have resulted in them having nothing of worth coming out in the near future. The issue is not just the fact that these folk have lost their jobs due to 'restructuring and their positions becoming obsolete' it is that the people who are responsible for the decision making that has resulted in this obsolescence will not only most likely be keeping their jobs but will no doubt be getting some nice little bonuses on the back of these quarterly results.
Amaze
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#5640311 Posted on: 02/16/2019 01:03 AM
Do you not agree that far less people are engaging with Blizzard games? You may as well blame the developers, or hell why not blame the players.
Again, I'm speaking generally on Blizzard. The 800 jobs covers Activsion, Blizzard and King.
and why is that? I am willing to bet that a good portion of those 800 folk that are getting the boot had no process in the decisions over the last few years that have resulted in them having nothing of worth coming out in the near future. The issue is not just the fact that these folk have lost their jobs due to 'restructuring and their positions becoming obsolete' it is that the people who are responsible for the decision making that has resulted in this obsolescence will not only most likely be keeping their jobs but will no doubt be getting some nice little bonuses on the back of these quarterly results.
Do you not agree that far less people are engaging with Blizzard games? You may as well blame the developers, or hell why not blame the players.
Again, I'm speaking generally on Blizzard. The 800 jobs covers Activsion, Blizzard and King.
The Laughing Ma
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#5640330 Posted on: 02/16/2019 03:09 AM
Do you not agree that far less people are engaging with Blizzard games? You may as well blame the developers, or hell why not blame the players.
Again, I'm speaking generally on Blizzard. The 800 jobs covers Activsion, Blizzard and King.
How about I blame Acti-Blizz, and the question is what have THEY done to engage the players?
Blame the developers, why, most developers want to make games as they see them but that usually gets sidelined by some greedy ar*ehole who sits above them resulting in their concept being compromised in favour of making the games worse by including grindy bullsh*t designed to sell micro-transaction.
Blame the players, yeah why not, how dare the players get fed up with being treated like open wallets, being forced to grind boring game concepts for days just to unlock a new skin, or a colour for their armour or a f*cking red dot for their gun site.
The point I am making is someone somewhere decided that implementing this kind of rubbish in their games was more important than actually making games that, as you said 'engage the players'. They have had 4 or 5 years of micro-transaction grindy bs driving their bottom line and it was obvious last year when the entire fiasco with SWBF2 was blowing up that their was going to be a significant backlash against this kind of nonsense so, what did Acti-Blizz do... oh yeah started f*cking around with Destiny 2 exp to make the grind even more prolonged. Shoved ludicrous grind in to COD alongside ludicrous paywalls for content, while chasing the Battle Royale fad that was blowing up the FREE TO PLAY rival Fortnite but because it's Acti-Blizz their players have to pay $60 upfront for the bottom of the line bare bones version of the game. Then the cherry on the cake, they had one playerbase they could have gotten an instant win with, engaged with by saying 'The Next Diablo, out next year on PC'. Nope mobile exclusive then sit around acting like morons pretending why they couldn't figure out why so many people were pissed and like I said I can bet you that the people who made these decisions are not the ones losing their jobs.
Do you not agree that far less people are engaging with Blizzard games? You may as well blame the developers, or hell why not blame the players.
Again, I'm speaking generally on Blizzard. The 800 jobs covers Activsion, Blizzard and King.
How about I blame Acti-Blizz, and the question is what have THEY done to engage the players?
Blame the developers, why, most developers want to make games as they see them but that usually gets sidelined by some greedy ar*ehole who sits above them resulting in their concept being compromised in favour of making the games worse by including grindy bullsh*t designed to sell micro-transaction.
Blame the players, yeah why not, how dare the players get fed up with being treated like open wallets, being forced to grind boring game concepts for days just to unlock a new skin, or a colour for their armour or a f*cking red dot for their gun site.
The point I am making is someone somewhere decided that implementing this kind of rubbish in their games was more important than actually making games that, as you said 'engage the players'. They have had 4 or 5 years of micro-transaction grindy bs driving their bottom line and it was obvious last year when the entire fiasco with SWBF2 was blowing up that their was going to be a significant backlash against this kind of nonsense so, what did Acti-Blizz do... oh yeah started f*cking around with Destiny 2 exp to make the grind even more prolonged. Shoved ludicrous grind in to COD alongside ludicrous paywalls for content, while chasing the Battle Royale fad that was blowing up the FREE TO PLAY rival Fortnite but because it's Acti-Blizz their players have to pay $60 upfront for the bottom of the line bare bones version of the game. Then the cherry on the cake, they had one playerbase they could have gotten an instant win with, engaged with by saying 'The Next Diablo, out next year on PC'. Nope mobile exclusive then sit around acting like morons pretending why they couldn't figure out why so many people were pissed and like I said I can bet you that the people who made these decisions are not the ones losing their jobs.
The Laughing Ma
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#5641196 Posted on: 02/18/2019 08:00 PM
100% agree
100% agree
K.S.
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#5641207 Posted on: 02/18/2019 08:34 PM
Nice optics Activision... the game industry needs to unionize; this won't keep all shareholders happy. Wouldn't keep me happy - I don't hold stock in EA/Acti - hold some in other companies but god I wouldn't look at this and think "gee what a healthy thing to do". Layoffs happen but claiming that "800 were all redundant" hiring a new CFO throwing $15 mill at em etc etc - sorry but it's all misdirection.
Nice optics Activision... the game industry needs to unionize; this won't keep all shareholders happy. Wouldn't keep me happy - I don't hold stock in EA/Acti - hold some in other companies but god I wouldn't look at this and think "gee what a healthy thing to do". Layoffs happen but claiming that "800 were all redundant" hiring a new CFO throwing $15 mill at em etc etc - sorry but it's all misdirection.
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.
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This seems to be a thing now.
https://www.coworker.org/petitions/fire-activision-ceo-bobby-kotick-for-pocketing-millions-while-laying-off-800-workers