Microsoft has confirmed that it has laid off 1,900 employees in another round of layoffs, particularly affecting those working at Activision Blizzard…
Microsoft has decided to lay off 1,900 employees from its gaming division. While most of the company’s layoffs are at Activision Blizzard, employees at Xbox and ZeniMax may also be affected.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard was one of the biggest stories of 2023, with the protracted case ending in October. The move was worth $68.7 billion. Huge franchises such as Call of Duty and Warcraft, among others, fell into the hands of the giant company. This was undoubtedly great news for Xbox gamers. However, many were concerned that the aggressive move would leave PlayStation users without their favourite franchises.
With Xbox’s acquisition of Bethesda, several titles, including Redfall and Starfield, have already left PlayStation platforms, so the concerns were justified.
The Verge first reported that it was confirmed that Microsoft would be laying off 1,900 employees, primarily at Activision Blizzard but also some Xbox and ZeniMax employees. With the Redmonds’ gaming division previously employing about 22,000 people, this is a massive reduction of 8 per cent.
As part of the move, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra confirmed that he and the company’s co-founder and lead designer, Allen Adham, will be leaving.
According to The Verge, Blizzard’s untitled survival game, which was first announced in early 2022, has been cancelled along with the layoffs.
So the situation is as follows:
- A total of 1,900 employees were laid off.
- Mike Ybarra, Blizzard’s president since February 2022, is leaving.
- Blizzard co-founder and chief design officer Allen Adham is leaving.
- Blizzard’s unnamed survival game codenamed Project Odyssey has been canceled.
Can Microsoft-Blizzard games remain without moderation?!
Among the recent layoffs at various Microsoft studios is a large portion of Blizzard’s customer support team. This means that several live service games operated by Blizzard are currently operating without moderators, referees and customer support staff. However, it appears that the full impact of the layoffs at Blizzard Entertainment is only now becoming apparent.
According to Microsoft analyst Jez Corden, all but a few people on the customer support team at ABK have been laid off, and his sources have confirmed that Microsoft plans to outsource customer support for Blizzard games to a third party.
Content creator and indie developer Bellular also pointed out that these layoffs will extend to other parts of the team. Including community management.
This news was also confirmed by Blizzard’s former game master, Northsings. (His post was later deleted.) For nearly eight years, he worked as a gamemaster on World of Warcraft and as a moderator for Blizzard and WoW on Twitch and the forums. They even helped out at BlizzCon. They, along with most of their fellow playmakers, were fired without warning.
Between Call of Duty, Diablo IV, Diablo Immortal, Hearthstone, World of Warcraft, and Warcraft Rumble, almost every major game from Activision Blizzard is a live service. Since the layoffs, most of these games operate with little customer support. While some players have had grievances with Blizzard’s customer service in the past, Microsoft’s plan for outsourced moderation in all of its games could lead to a worse experience for fans.
I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day and my energy and support will be focused on all those amazing individuals impacted – this is in no way a reflection…
— Mike Ybarra 🎄 (@Qwik) January 25, 2024
Per @JezCorden
– CS is being gutted
– MS plans to outsource.Remember Blizzard GM's being caring, and way above what you'd expect from other companies? Yeah…
Also, CS often led to other roles. A fair few community managers got their start there.https://t.co/Y7SUTLvIyv
— Michael (@BellularGaming) January 25, 2024
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