Activision-Blizzard Begins Massive Layoffs / no major new games for 2019

Hey everyone! I didn't see this posted, so I thought I'd share.

Source

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1095069373822365698

People close to Activision and Blizzard who I've talked to today say they still haven't been told anything. Those in departments likely to be cut say they still don't know if they'll have jobs tomorrow. Horrifying, cruel treatment. My heart goes out to everyone there.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1095374774728048640

As they brace for today's layoffs, Blizzard employees are crying and hugging in the parking lot, according to a person there. Still no official word from the company, but people in publishing and esports are expecting big cuts. Earnings is at 5pm ET - news should be around then.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1095435875222241280

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick just opened his quarterly earnings call with the line, "We once again achieved record results in 2018."

The Fallout Of Activision Blizzard’s Massive Layoffs

“It’s a bloodbath here,” one Blizzard employee told me last night. “A lot more cuts than we were expecting.”

It looks like a total of 800 non-developer personnel are being laid off, i.e from publishing, marketing, community management, esports, etc. This ends up being around 8% of it's workforce, BUT Activision plans on boosting its number of developers by about 20% in 2019 to ramp up new content for its biggest franchises such as "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush."

I don't know about you guys, but I'M FREAKING PUMPED FOR MORE INSTALLMENTS OF CANDY CRUSH! WHOOO :D

Also, Blizzard releases confirmed for a 2019 release are Diablo Immortal(Most likely a 2019 release), Warcraft Reforged and World of Warcraft Classic.