Blizzard is going through a cost-cutting phase. The company needs to become more efficient and that requires financial sacrifices.
In recent days and weeks, reports about internal changes at Blizzard have increased. Just recently, we reported that 100 European employees in the support team will leave by 2019. This was about an offer where employees receive money if they voluntarily resign.
Now Kotaku has reported that many more measures are being taken to save costs at Blizzard and work more efficiently in the coming years.
Severance offers for other departments: Initially, the possibility for a paid exit was only intended for customer service employees, but in recent months, this offer has been extended to other departments as well. Now, IT and QA employees can also take advantage of this offer and effectively receive a severance payment.
Blizzard wants to cut costs: Several Blizzard employees are in contact with colleagues from Kotaku and report that finances now play a significant role. In the past, the finance department operated more “behind the scenes” and had no say in matters. As developers, they hardly saw them. Now, the finance department is present in many meetings.
It is said:
“Many decisions are now made by business, marketing, and finance people. There are real conflicts between the developers and the business people. Strategic decisions are driven by the finance department.”
“Reducing costs” is preached monthly: Employees are constantly reminded that costs need to be reduced and efficiency increased. This is addressed monthly and is much more than just an empty phrase. Many employees feel that there is seriousness behind this statement. Internally, there are already murmurs about many layoffs for 2019.
Games are safe, everything else is not: It has been repeatedly reported that cuts are not being made in the actual development of games – with the exception of Heroes of the Storm. The development teams remain in a good financial position and in some cases even receive new hires to advance the development of multiple games simultaneously.
Is everything just becoming more efficient? It is also possible that all these changes within Blizzard could lead to improvements in the long run. Even if Blizzard is moving away from many values they once stood for. It is probably too early to judge whether these changes are positive or negative for the players.
What do you think of all the changes and reports surrounding Blizzard? Is a sign of change a good thing and optimistic? Or is it just another step down the spiral?
