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Blizzard laying off 600

Diablo III studio cuts 60 developers as well as substantial support staff as part of global reduction of staff due to "changing needs" of company.

There's sour news out of Irvine this morning, as Activision Blizzard subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment announced that it will reduce its global workforce by 600 employees. The company noted that 10 percent of its staff cuts--or about 60 people--were actively involved in game development.

Is Diablo III done?

Is Diablo III done?

Blizzard was quick to point out that the World of Warcraft development team will not be impacted by the staff reductions. The company's massively popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game has struggled in the past year, slipping to 10.2 million subscribers through the end of December.

"Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the long-term health of any business," said Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime. "Over the last several years, we've grown our organization tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community. However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company."

Blizzard went on to note that its development and publishing schedule has not been impacted by the staff cuts. Currently, the company expects to announce a release date for Diablo III in the near future, indicating that development on the game is nearing completion. The company is also at work on the WOW expansion Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard DOTA, and Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm.

At last month's DICE Summit, Blizzard EVP of product development Frank Pearce indicated that the company's global workforce stood at 4,700 employees. Blizzard had not responded to a request for comment on the company's current workforce size or whether today's move was related to Diablo III's development schedule as of press time.

241 Comments

  • Dustyn-Barlow

    Posted Mar 2, 2012 12:59 am GMT

    Ok i heard from a friend that Activision fired most of the staff that worked on Black Ops right before it relesed to save money on paying out bonuses, if im wrong please let me know. But if it is true then Activision is probably doing the same thing with the Diablo 3 staff.

  • maxwell97

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 10:16 pm GMT

    @Sepewrath: It's true that laying people off can be a short-sighted way to cut costs, and can end up hurting a company. That doesn't mean that ALL layoffs have that impact. If you have too many people for the work, or the people you have don't have the right skills for the work they currently have to do, then a layoff can make sense.

  • Reaiko

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 9:01 pm GMT

    How can it have nothing to do with World of Warcraft, when their realms are slowly going down and dying..

  • Nic345

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 6:06 pm GMT

    Layoff are always sucky news.

  • X-RS

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 6:04 pm GMT

    I can't say I've got enough job experience to back it....
    But does it seem like job the employment methods/job security for deevelopers should be revised? Are they required to be employed for X amount of time in contracts?

  • moistsandwich

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 4:38 pm GMT

    @barleybosh
    PANDARENS WERE IN WARCRAFT 3 WHICH PRE-DATES KUNG FU PANDA.... its a difficult concept I know.... but if you try real hard, I'm sure you can grasp the concept.

  • Sepewrath

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 1:20 pm GMT

    @dre256x

    If only cutting staff actually meant that we won't get charged more for games. Whether directly by an increase in pricing standards or indirectly with continued DLC abuse and a focus on microtransactions. At the end of the day, cutting staff wont change that from being our future. It just means they make more money.

  • dre256x

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 11:22 am GMT

    @Sepewrath
    Yes, that's true they aren't there doing the work, but the investor put money in a company hoping to get back returns on there investment.. The whole mistake happen when Blizz merged, Blizz didn't really need Activision, Activision need them to help boost there bottom line and appease investor..

    Blizz could have survive by themselves, but they would have to hire more to deal with the headaches of globally releasing a game on a massive scale.. Remember if Activision is going under the merger can break-up, similar to the once Chrysler and Benz did...

    All this cutting of staff is to help Activision keep posting profits later this year and more into the future. Also take into note next Gen development cost is gonna go up, and if you keep the same number of staff how are you gonna post profits without raising the cost of a game, simple you cut staff. If they don't can u imagine paying between 65-75 dollars for a game..

  • Sepewrath

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 11:02 am GMT

    @maxwell97

    And a business is only as good as the people who work there. Those investors aren't the ones doing the daily work to keep the business running. If you cut jobs and dump more work on those left, just to save a buck, it'll do more harm than good in the long run. People work better when they aren't overworked and constantly concerned that their job is on the bubble for the sake of being more "economical". Its not about handouts, your business isn't worth s**t without your workforce standing firmly behind you.

  • toddx77

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 10:05 am GMT

    @maxwell97

    I know what you mean and I was comparing it to what nintendo did where the board members all took a pay cut so everyone else could keep their jobs.

  • Suaron_x

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 9:02 am GMT

    My guess is they canned the Diablo III development team (mostly play testers) and that many of these people will be hired back when they start work on the Diablo expansion pack (which will hit the markets in 2015/2016. This type of thing is common in the gaming industry, but after posting $1B in profits (or so) from last quarter it kinda grabs headlines. I don't understand how Blizzard employs what 5,000 people and still takes 3-5 years getting a game to market. What was so complicated about programming Diablo 3 that took them 4 years (and it's still not out)? Torchlight 2 will be out in what a year and half with 3 programmers (who they once fired). An expansion to Starcraft is what, 2 years and growing. The SC expansion uses all the same tools/engine they previously developed, which hardly warrants that kind of time.

  • malfreds

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 8:53 am GMT

    Well, it seems that Blizzard had 600 extra persons. I mean, they didn't make good investigation about how many employees they needed.
    However, I'm pretty sure that these 600 guys will have multiple open doors, after working Blizzard.

  • XCore93

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 8:46 am GMT

    throw 600 employers away? darn man thats an insult

  • ccgod

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 8:35 am GMT

    @moose3469 pretty sure making $152,490,000 a month in sub fees is more then enough to finance there work force :/ not to mention all the other games they make $ off of..

  • ccgod

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 8:30 am GMT

    @WithoutGraceXII
    they care more about saving $$

  • King9999

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 8:14 am GMT

    "Blizzard was quick to point out that the World of Warcraft development team will not be impacted by the staff reductions"

    Well, that's reassuring. Maybe those 60 people who were let go will end up on the Guild Wars 2 dev team to solve that problem.

  • TheIfym20

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 8:06 am GMT

    600......WoW!!!

  • WithoutGraceXII

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:58 am GMT

    That really sucks for those people. Working for a company as successful as Blizzard, you'd think they'd have more job security.

  • glbbg

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:57 am GMT

    I'm very displeased how some companies deal with their staff like they are used tissue - once you are done with them, throw them in the gutter. A real shame, because it's not 6 or 60, but 600 people who lost their job. Like they say in "Jerry Maguire": "Show me the money".

  • cyberslammer

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:56 am GMT

    Panda Bears in an MMO Epic FAIL.

    Oh but they still have dancing elves on mailboxes so that makes it okay.

  • gregrout

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:32 am GMT

    "Pandarens came first..... " I think the point is the expansion doesn't look that good. Wrath of the Lich King looked amazing, it had a story and a tonne of lore that players could get behind, Pandarens... not so much. While there's a fair amount of lore behind Deathwing, Cataclysm still felt incomplete, throw in Blizzard's hand holding on this expansion, and it was a brutally linear romp that didn't last neverly as long. With Pandarens almost utterly out of main stream lore, it's got "jump the shark" written all over it. What's the next expansion after that one, the hidden cow level?!

  • da_chub

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:29 am GMT

    @moose3469 peoples lives were ruined because of WoW. and all i know is i cant wait for diablo 3 to come out. im saving for a new pc right now.

  • Drakenu

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:10 am GMT

    Haha damn and here I was thinking I could get a chance to play diablo 3 before I got a full time job.. Well lesson learned..

  • barleybosh

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 7:04 am GMT

    @moistsandwich Everytime someone denies Kung Fu Panda as inspiration for releasing Mists, I want to shoot them in the chest with a high caliber pistol and take naked pictures of their mom and post it on the internet because CLEARLY that movie produces interest in Panda Bears who do Kung Fu, leading up to similarly themed games or expansions.

  • GreyViper

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 6:56 am GMT

    Thats just so sad, they finished year long project and are cast of like used tissue. Since lets be honest no way has Activision Blizzard money issues. Sad news for the people who lost their job.

  • Cwagmire21

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 6:36 am GMT

    @Wolf3037 Someone's on their high horse yet doesn't know the difference between firing someone and laying someone off.

  • ACMC85

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 6:29 am GMT

    @moistsandwich true.

    I don't see how Bobby kotick can make so much money for having no idea how to make a game except by threatening employees like this can get massive bonuses, but the people who work on games and market them get the ax.

  • FlashCharge

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 6:10 am GMT

    Hope Dioblo III turns out to be a giant hit. But in today's global economy changes happen. Its a shame that so many people are affected.

  • moistsandwich

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 5:59 am GMT

    Everytime someone makes a "Kung Fu Panda" reference, I want to punch them in the throat.
    Pandarens came first..... Kung Fu Panda came second.... got it... kthxbye!

  • moose3469

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 5:09 am GMT

    See what happens when you guys quit WoW? People's lives get ruined.

  • holyghost87

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 5:03 am GMT

    Welcome to the real world..

  • gregrout

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 4:34 am GMT

    It's activision. Having destroyed their own reputation and brand, they'll pull off the same BS under the Blizzard logo. Blizzard's glory days are behind them. With the newest mount to the expansion pack in development it looks like they're targeting and tailoring World Of Warcraft for the Pacific regions. So that leaves what? Diablo 3, that's getting delay after delay, and a DOTA to compete against Valve's version? It's not looking good, and this employee dump isn't going to attract high-end talent.

  • parrot_of_adun

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 4:17 am GMT

    This is now an accepted business method, and it's a shame Blizzard fallows suit. This company is not the Blizzard of old. Not the Blizzard that made Warcraft, Starcraft, or even Diablo (or Condor/Blizz North, more accurately), but the Blizzard that made WoW and thought of SC2 as no more than an e-sport. The new Blizzard is a sad commentary on the industry, and in a rather sad state itself...

  • Mcgnnis1

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 4:08 am GMT

    "company's massively popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game has struggled in the past year, slipping to 10.2 million subscribers through the end of December." And I'm still suppose to think that they are doing bad? I mean $15 x 10.2 million a month doesn't sound so bad to me right? Plus if Blizzard would actually force a deadline on themselves maybe then we might even have been reading this news.

  • paxis85

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 3:44 am GMT

    go figure... heads actually rolling for a blizzard game taking too long to be released... who'd have guessed. Don't get me wrong, my heart goes out to those people but if they actually put the hours into diablo 3 rather than wasting 5 years of blizzard fans' time building up suspense for a game which seems more and more mediocre as time keeps passing

  • polterdice

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 3:12 am GMT

    -600 more WoW accounts come next quarter's report

  • benbonney

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 3:12 am GMT

    They Havent cut back WoW staff??? surely thats where the biggest loss since last year is and kung fu panda is not going to help that
    I WANT BLOODY STARCRAFT 2 HOS...... NOT PANDAS

  • roganth

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 2:14 am GMT

    @Choad-Warrior yes it's definitely profitable but it is probalbly not growing enough to please investors. If their growth is smaller than expected they need to cut costs somewhere (staff) to meet Activision or Blizzard's profit projections.

  • Booshon

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 1:28 am GMT

    They changed need, they need more money rofl

  • Choad-Warrior

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 12:34 am GMT

    I can totally get behind the "staying profitable" argument. I can't get behind it when you pull in $13 a month x 10 million, and have been doing so since 2008. You are already profitable. as even if it costs $20 million a year to maintain operations of that one game, you have $1,540,000,000 more. Or am I missing something?

  • hemoleech

    Posted Mar 1, 2012 12:13 am GMT

    Companies that do this lay off hundreds of employees so the ones remaining get more money.

  • Damnation_6

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:51 pm GMT

    @meicell

    As someone who has played hundreds of hours of Diablo 2 I dissagree with you greatly. I like the changes that are made....I think they give more customization instead of less. In Diablo 2 you would put most of ones points in only a few skills with only 1 reset possible. Now you can try different skills until you find something to your liking AND with the rune system costumize the skills further. Oh and in case your refering to how easy the beta is....the first part of Diablo 2 is also super easy....

  • Gv0zD

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:49 pm GMT

    This large labour reduction is hardly related to one of their projects nearing completion. I personally think this is a simple and blunt attempt to cut costs.

    Blizzard was always scheduling their releases to maintain future cash flows on desired levels. Remember, they announced two releases this year, one of which is most likely WoW add-on (judging by them keeping WoW staff). It seems however, that Blizzard are pessimistic about their forecasted cash flows. At the same time they are intended to stick to their release plans, at least for now, so they cut costs by reducing staff.

    What amuses me most of all, is that they have at least two nearly finished games (maybe even ready for release), that they keep on delaying. I'm talking of HotS and D3. The longer they delay them, the older those games become. Diablo 3, while not being a pure RPG, will still have to struggle with many RPGs and similar games, not to mention the ageing graphics and not that exciting gameplay (in my personal opinion, of course). HotS has literally no competitors now, but it seems that Blizzard sees it as a competitor to its own WoL. With C&C; Generals already announced, I think it is in best Blizzard's interests to speed up and release SC add-ons when they still monopolize the RTS market. But they prefer milking their own games dry, while cutting people to meet their financial forecasts.

  • Corrupted_Wolf

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:49 pm GMT

    Problem with Blizzard might be being too dependent on few titles' sequels. Not to mention because of the blazing speed and absurd quantity of titles being released these days, it's hard to keep up a hype when a title is keep getting delayed... especially since our tastes seem to change faster and more often as we take in more and more games.

    It might be time for Blizz to update their ways just a little bit.

  • dre256x

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:42 pm GMT

    @ GreySeven
    Notice blizz hardly give a set date until they are sure.. They might give a quarter (and that's because of investors) to give a heads up.

  • GreySeven

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:36 pm GMT

    "Changing needs" meaning "timely releases"?

  • dre256x

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:25 pm GMT

    Almost all big Dev's houses are over staffed... They tend to be over staff because the (floater) as sometimes they are called, can move from project to project...

    But seeing that its around 60dev's getting cut and the rest other places, jees how much extra man power did they have doing little to nothing...

    This small restructuring won't hurt..

  • PET_

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 11:06 pm GMT

    Have you noticed how Mikes Morhaime's sentences always start with:

    "Over the last several years, we've grown our organization"

  • meicell

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 10:35 pm GMT

    They insist on molding diablo 3 for people who have no business playing that game, they have dumb it down and taken a lot of player choise and customization away for the sake of apealing to idiots who just want to be eased into playing videogames like they were movies and not interactive experiences.

  • Wolf3037

    Posted Feb 29, 2012 10:33 pm GMT

    @Cwagmire21 You should read a basic business book. You're assuming Blizzard did this out of malicious intent. You don't know that, and of course neither do I. Unless you're privy to such information I wouldn't make assumptions. Companies consolidate all time for many reasons. Maybe one day when you get a job you'll realize that. You can demonize me all you want for saying it, but like I said... you'll realize this someday. More so if you ever become someone who has to make decisions like these.

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