Blizzard Is Paying Employees to Quit to Cut Costs

[The Chosen One]

OverdriveActive yeah it raises a lot of flags. Even though I said it was at least considerate that Blizzard is offering a buyout option, I don’t know each country’s “severance pay” laws, so it may be required in some countries and/or it’s to prevent lawsuits and filing for unemployment benefits. Which only adds to the possibility of a sell off. Because even though Blizzard may be paying some money up front in the form of severance, it makes it more attractive for the buyer of Blizzard because that’s less mouths to feed during the acquisition.

Regarding Tencent, they own a huge chunk of Epic Games (40% I believe) and have made a killing off Fortnite. Who knows, they may be in the buying mood with all that cash money they’ve been raking in.

[OverdriveActive]

I hadn't even considered this angle to be honest. It hadn't crossed my mind that they might actually separate the business unit out and get it in ship shape before selling it to an entity like Tencent. Having seen corporate buyout up close it does hit a lot of the same notes. Then again, if you look at the financial reports from the last few years it seems they're making good money off it. Still, they might want to sell now if their prediction for the product lifecycle is that the Blizzard portfolio is in decline. I'm not so sure on that but I could certainly see them wanting to capitalise now if that's the case.

[Methpoodle]

For the employees involved, it seems like the best of a bad situation. I hate to see layoffs but at least a years salary as a severance package is a pretty good deal.

I hate to sound like a fear monger but I truly believe we've seen the end of Blizzard as a passion driven developer. I still think we'll still get good games in the future but nothing to the quality of the days of yore. I reckon we'll begin to see more rushed, unfinished titles. More aggressive implementation of micro transactions. More and more shady deals and business practices ie. pre-order this never before seen mountain dew themed Victoria's Secret underwear in cooperation with Sony to receive early access to Diablo 4 beta and 3 more slots of stash space.

Again, I feel like a pessimist for saying this, but it makes me sad to see Activision with their talons so tightly dug into the proverbial trout that is Blizzard. Warcraft: Orks & Humans was my favorite RTS alongside titles from Westwood (a developer torn apart by the hungering vulture that is EA)

I would give Blizz a 5 year buffer (at the most) of authentic and creative titles before we see no new original ip's coming out and everything becomes the yearly push for a new iteration of the same game. A new Overwatch every year, and any ip that can't manage that development cycle will just be cut.

Christ, it's the holiday season, a time of joy... and my own opinion makes me want to hang myself from the garage rafters.


(Edit) It's a sad fucking day when two of my once favorite devs (Blizz and Bethesda) seem to have become completely disconnected from the fans. Goodby old guard and hello Obsidian and Projekt Red.

[The Chosen One]

I’ve worked at companies that offered buyout packages. I think that it was at least considerate that Blizzard made a buy out opportunity to their people. However, this strategy can indicate major changes at Blizzard. The fact that this is being offered makes me believe that some major restructuring is in order to improve the Bottom Line and potentially a selling off of Blizzard.

Just speculating possibility that Activision (Parent) is getting Blizzard (Subsidiary) ready for sale to another company, maybe a Chinese publisher? Who knows? It’s just speculation but when I see these buy outs being offered to reduce the workforce and save on payroll expense to increase the bottom line, outsourcing Chinese game devs for Diablo mobile, shutting down HOTS in addition to freeing up positions in the company. This makes the purchase of Blizzard a much easier transition on the Buyer’s own staff that will reduce some overlap to effectively merge with Blizzard’s existing staff during the acquisition. Plus upper management is going to be game faced and playing their cards so close to the chest as not to give away that a potential selling of Blizzard is on the table to their employees. Again this is just speculation they may just be preparing for any bumpy roads ahead while they move in a different direction.