Ativision/Blizzard layoffs and community DoomSaying
There have been a lot of discussions and emotions in the world of Activision and Blizzard Entertainment in recent days, and events have sparked a lot of thought and responses from the business world and the gaming community. For those who are unaware, on Tuesday, February 12th, Activision/Blizzard laid off approximately 8% of their workforce, around 800 workers, this coming after the company reported their quarterly profit analysis for the 4th quarter of 2018, as well as the yearly report for 2018 as a whole. There were a lot of layers to the report and the decision to lay off so many workers, so it is understandable that people may be unable or unwilling to process all the information provided to them. Like many others, I myself had a very emotional and passionate reaction to the whirlpool of information and misinformation that surrounded Tuesday. While pondering my own feelings and how to best express them, it became clear that there was a lot to say, and that a blog post would be the only appropriate and efficient way to get out both information and my reactions. So I am going to take a brief moment to introduce myself, give you a little background, and then we will get to breaking down the profit reports, the layoffs, and what all of this information means for Blizzard in the future. If you wish to know more about me, I am an open book in DMs or comments, as well as available on multiple other social media platforms. This introduction, however, is focused on the information you need to know about me for the relevance of the topic at hand. My name is Michael, and I am known over gaming social media outlets as "Chrono." I have been playing World of Warcraft since 2009, specifically near the release of Patch 3.2.0, otherwise known as "Call of the Crusade" during Wrath of the Lich King. After playing WoW for a few months, I fell in love with Blizzard storytelling and began expanding my interests in the company. 10 years later I have played every game produced since then, fallen in love with countless other Blizzard stories, specifically Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void and the original story of Diablo III. I am something of a staunch defender of Blizzard and the decisions they make, and it that will probably become more clear as the article goes on. In the interest of full disclosure, yes, I love Blizzard Entertainment and I always will, and I think they do a much better job than their community gives them credit for.
That being said, let's dive right into the information that probably had the most emotion attached to it on Tuesday, which was the layoff of about 8% of employees at Activision/Blizzard. There is nothing one person can say to ease the pain of so many lost opportunities. I have read several tweets and statements from former employees, expressing their sadness about what happened to them. Nothing I write here is meant to diminish the struggle those people and their families now face. Every single person who lost their job as a result of these layoffs has my sincerest and most heartfelt sympathies. I wish every single one of them the very best, because they deserve it. I don't know anyone personally affected, but I can imagine none of them will ever be able to replace their work at Blizzard. I know I wouldn't be able to if I was in their shoes. With that in mind, it's a struggle to witness. I know companies have to make hard decisions like these, but at the same time, I personally cannot help but believe there is always a better path. I would never presume to know better than the leaders of the company, but it is frustrating that in 2019, we still cannot find a better way to restructure a company aside from scrapping such a large portion of the workforce. At the same time, it is important to remember that these lost jobs were not overly about money and profits. Granted, its big business, everything ultimately comes down to money and profits. We'll get to the profit analysis in a moment, but suffice it to say that 2018 overall was a very good year for the company, profit-wise. So these layoffs are about the structure of the company and bringing in fresh blood and new ideas on how to grow into the future. This is not to say that there is a viable excuse for huge cuts to jobs, especially when these people worked day and night to get the company where it is now, but Blizzard seems to understand this, and is doing some small gestures to try and ease the pain of their decisions. After the layoffs happened on Tuesday, Blizzard President, J. Allen Brack, had this to say:
"This was an extremely difficult decision, and we want to acknowledge the effort of everyone who has contributed to Blizzard. To assist with the transition, we are offering each impacted employee a severance package that includes additional pay, benefits continuation, and career and recruiting support to help them find their next opportunity. These people are members of the Blizzard family—they’ve cared deeply and contributed greatly to our work here and we are extremely grateful for all they’ve done."
This does not, of course, instantly absolve the company of the layoff of about 800 workers, but at least there is an acknowledgment of the struggle of their former employees. It is also important to note that quarter 1 of 2019 is the first real business quarter of the Presidency of J. Allen Brack, who took over for Mike Morhaime towards the end of 2018. This is important because historically, when you have a change of hands like that at such a high level in a big company, the change flows down the corporate ladder and positions will change. Again, this is not an excuse or a justification, but before the intolerable Blizzard fan base starts screaming about their world being on fire, it's important to take a breath and look at the facts.
Speaking of those facts, these layoffs came at the heels of the company's earnings report for quarter 4 of 2018 and the year overall. This is the part where a lot of the misinformation occurs. There is a lot to this report, and admittedly, I am not business savvy enough to understand every aspect of it, but there are some clear defining points, and plans by Blizzard for 2019. First and foremost, so that no one misunderstands this one simple, indisputable fact: Blizzard made more money in 2018 than any year in their history. This seems on the surface to conflict with the layoffs that occured at the same time. If the company is on strong foundations, why would they layoff so many people? There are a couple answers that seem to make the most sense and likely a combination of them is the truth. First, even though 2018 was an amazing year for Activision/Blizzard, the fourth quarter of 2018 did fall short of expectations. The reasons for this are entirely speculation, unless someone has some insight into the minds of the corporate board and CEOs. Likely, however, everyone speculating on why the fourth quarter was a strugglebus experience is simply speculating based on their own broken experiences. Another firm reason for the layoffs despite record profits is, as previously mentioned, the change of hands at the highest level of the company is often met with countless changes flowing down the ranks. The third reason, and the one the company is putting forward the most, is the simple fact that they are reimagining every team and all their development and marketing tactics. Put simply, Blizzard wants new people involved, and cannot or will not hire waves and waves of people without first cutting jobs. Again, none of this is supposed to make anyone feel better about the layoffs, but it is meant to state one thing very clearly: The company is not falling apart. Their PR struggles with Diablo: Immortal or Battle for Azeroth are not tanking the company. There's no impending doom for Blizzard games, and there's certainly no reason for "fans" to abandon ship or throw around their usual doomsaying attitude. The community responses to just about everything since the release of Battle for Azeroth has been atrocious, and if by some miracle this article catches the eye of any Blizzard game developer, I appreciate the fact that you are too nice to lash back at the community, so I am going to do it for you. The sheer disrespect towards people who spend their entire lives making games for us to enjoy, almost entirely over senseless and trivial matters, is ridiculous and unacceptable, especially in the wake of serious matters like 800 people at the company being out of work. One of the Warcraft content creators I have the most respect for, The Lost Codex said it best with a Twitter post aimed at inspiring positive feedback for the developers, mere days before the layoffs occurred:
"The vitriol from the Community has been heartbreaking to witness. Passionate & beautifully creative people have been demonized & instead of spiting at every tweet, let’s cheer them on. Remind them why they started their career path & acknowledge their passion that we all share."
So what does this mean for the company going forward? Well, according to their statements, Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Diablo will all see an increase of around 20% to their development teams. This means more hires and supports the idea that Blizzard is looking for new people and new ideas, rather than hitting the big red button over money problems. It also means that at a minimum, these 4 franchises are continuing into the foreseeable future. As for the other Blizzard IPs, its likely they will conversely take a seat on the back burner, with Starcraft II's WCS the highlight of the other IPs, which is unlikely to die given its massive global following. It's also important to note that World of Warcraft has a set content timeline that cannot and will not be affected by the massive employment changes. Warcraft and Overwatch are clearly set to be the highlights of 2019, with the 3 major Warcraft projects still in motion, and the emphasis on eSports in 2019, which Overwatch has become a pillar of in the Blizzard community. This is about all we know beyond the layoffs at the moment. As a huge Starcraft fan, I'm disappointed that the prospect of the franchise dying after falling in love with the characters and plot lines. I also, however, believe that Blizzard will continue to develop into the future if we the community just give them a chance. They are not evil, they are not out to spite anyone.
Finally, a special message to the Diablo community. Now is the time to quit the whining. Diablo is getting so much future attention. Regardless of what people may think of Diablo: Immortal, there have been no cancellation announcements. Neither have there been any such disappointing news on the subject of Diablo 4, which we know is in the works. The Diablo community is getting everything they want from Blizzard, despite the selfish reactions to Diablo: Immortal and the wait for Diablo 4. (Obviously people have already forgotten how long the wait was for Diablo 3) So, in short, now is the time to be optimistic and give the Devs a chance to please your inflated egos.
To sum up, it was a sad day for the company and the community on Tuesday. I cannot stress enough how much my heart goes out to the 800 workers who lost their jobs. I would be lost in their position, but I know they are stronger people than I, and they will bounce back. It's going to be an off year, a disappointing year to some, but no one should simply be a fan of Blizzard when everything is going well. If we want to call ourselves part of the Blizzard family, now is when the company needs our understanding the most. You can be against the layoffs, you can have constructive criticism of game mechanics, marketing plans, and IP franchises. But I ask... I implore everyone reading this to stay positive and not lash out. Be the Blizzard family everyone deserves. No matter how bleak things seem at the time, I can hold my head high with tears in my eyes, and be proud to be a fan that knows Blizzard will grow from these sad times and create even more amazing gaming experiences in the future. I hope you will join me. Thank you for reading. En Taro Adun, Lok-tar Ogar, and Cheers, Luv.