Why is everybody leaving Blizzard?

[Paula Deen]

One of the two people who was quoted as leaving today/yesterday was already out a week or so ago and reported on then too.

[mercutiouk]

The stuff about bonfire studios looks... mildly interesting at least. Hadn't realised there were a bunch of ex Blizz folks regrouping there. It hopefully points at them being a bit sick of big corporate targets and shot calls. There's some nice experience there, maybe a "young Bethesda" tier dev in the making (we can but hope).

[Jetstream]

The amount of denial is overwhelming. They are losing a lot of people in a very short period of time. But hey... close your eyes. If you can't see it, it isn't happening.

Man, my office has more annual turnover than Blizz has demonstrated, and we've got 56 people when fully staffed.

[Paula Deen]

The stuff about bonfire studios looks... mildly interesting at least. Hadn't realised there were a bunch of ex Blizz folks regrouping there. It hopefully points at them being a bit sick of big corporate targets and shot calls. There's some nice experience there, maybe a "young Bethesda" tier dev in the making (we can but hope).

Or you know it will be like Pardo's last abortion, Warlords of Draenor.

[SteveRocks]

from look of it 8.0 will be last chapter of wow - it all sums up - metzen written the ending , quest dev has probably already designed main lore questing etc etc - with coming months we will probably see more and more people leaving game to not be the last person who turns off lights

I really hope this isn't the case, but I admit I thought the same thing when I read about Metzen leaving. He is one of the "founding fathers," of Blizzard and WoW was his baby. I can't help but feel paranoid that maybe the game is either ending soon or going in a direction that the original developers hate.

If that is the case it's really too bad because Legion honestly is the best the game has been in a very long time and I'd like to see the series continue for many more years.

[Gadzooks]

The stuff about bonfire studios looks... mildly interesting at least. Hadn't realised there were a bunch of ex Blizz folks regrouping there. It hopefully points at them being a bit sick of big corporate targets and shot calls. There's some nice experience there, maybe a "young Bethesda" tier dev in the making (we can but hope).

Some people like to work at start-ups, not big corporations. I know a couple of people who love to start companies, but have zero interest running them. That's why they work in the startup field. Going over to Bonfire is like leaving Apple to go work for a new startup and new tech. It's totally understandable why some might go.

It really shows, in these threads, how many posters here are just kids. Nothing wrong with that, but how they react to the real world is amusing.

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I really hope this isn't the case, but I admit I thought the same thing when I read about Metzen leaving. He is one of the "founding fathers," of Blizzard and WoW was his baby. I can't help but feel paranoid that maybe the game is either ending soon or going in a direction that the original developers hate.

If that is the case it's really too bad because Legion honestly is the best the game has been in a very long time and I'd like to see the series continue for many more years.

They've already talked about how they've started the next expansion. WoW is not ending with Legion, just stop with that nonsense.

Metzen passed the torch. It's true, it will impact the game, but who knows? He may have left a file cabinet full of story and lore and ideas for them to work with, moving forward.

[Deleted]

I think that with Overwatch and Legion, its a great time to leave with a great resume.

I'm actually curious to see if Legion's sucess continues. I would like to see it prove that the MMO market hadn't actually died, but rather companies failed to deliver with their products.

[goblingirl]

IT is the kind of industry where people DO move on quite a bit. Employers don't give raises as fast as the baseline market pay for most IT jobs goes up. So if the company's policy is, for example, to give a 3-5% raise per year, but the market for your job is so hot that pay is going up 5-10% per year, in two or three years you are earning 10-20% less than what you are worth.

I realize that sounds nuts to some of you who don't work in IT, but that's the way it is. I live in a major city and the unemployment rate for IT workers is less than one-half percent right now. Basically anyone breathing who wants work can find it, and the really talented ones who know their stuff can get huge raises for jumping employers.

Metzen's a special case - he got in on the ground floor and made millions sitting at Blizzard for 20 years. That's not true for most of these workers - if they want to earn market rate, they have to move on every few years because most employers aren't going to raise them appropriate amounts. It's stupid on the employer's part, because they lose the institutional knowledge when the employee leaves, AND they have the cost of hiring a replacement who will likely have to be paid a higher wage than the old employee was (again, that whole market rate thing). When they could have simply raised the old employee to market rate. But most employers don't think like that, and only the biggest spend the $ to do research on current salary values AND then follow through and give their employees the pay raises to bring them to market rates. It's only after the person walks that the hiring manager and HR finds out they can't refill the position for what the ex-employee earned.

Anyway. By changing jobs it's a near certainty these people are getting raises and in some cases huge raises. When you have a spouse and kids and a mortgage, at some point, the money becomes important.

[Gorf18]

IT is the kind of industry where people DO move on quite a bit. Employers don't give raises as fast as the baseline market pay for most IT jobs goes up. So if the company's policy is, for example, to give a 3-5% raise per year, but the market for your job is so hot that pay is going up 5-10% per year, in two or three years you are earning 10-20% less than what you are worth.

I realize that sounds nuts to some of you who don't work in IT, but that's the way it is. I live in a major city and the unemployment rate for IT workers is less than one-half percent right now. Basically anyone breathing who wants work can find it, and the really talented ones who know their stuff can get huge raises for jumping employers.

Metzen's a special case - he got in on the ground floor and made millions sitting at Blizzard for 20 years. That's not true for most of these workers - if they want to earn market rate, they have to move on every few years because most employers aren't going to raise them appropriate amounts. It's stupid on the employer's part, because they lose the institutional knowledge when the employee leaves, AND they have the cost of hiring a replacement who will likely have to be paid a higher wage than the old employee was (again, that whole market rate thing). When they could have simply raised the old employee to market rate. But most employers don't think like that, and only the biggest spend the $ to do research on current salary values AND then follow through and give their employees the pay raises to bring them to market rates. It's only after the person walks that the hiring manager and HR finds out they can't refill the position for what the ex-employee earned.

Anyway. By changing jobs it's a near certainty these people are getting raises and in some cases huge raises. When you have a spouse and kids and a mortgage, at some point, the money becomes important.

Exactly that reason is why I have seen so many changes in I.T. ... My first job I was making more than my team lead for the reason you mentioned above, eventually after a small exodus they resolved that pay gap. I have been lucky enough to average 10% raises over the last 10 years, but I have changed companies twice and positions 5 times in that period. I dont it expect that to continue as to your point also with a wife and 2 kids I'm not as eager to work the hours that I once was. That being said no regrets on my side, I'm in my early 30's with a great and stable job (although boring at times, corporate life!) and have a lot of opportunities in my future if I so desire to go down that path. That being said, there are times where work environments get toxic, but in IT its very common to see people move between the 5-10 year mark between companies.

[Kathranis]

Most of these guys have been with Blizzard for 10-20 years and had reached the highest position in their area of expertise. There was no room left for advancement, and in many cases they had transitioned from hands-on to managerial roles.

Couple that with inevitable burnout of the daily routine, and likely unfulfilled creative desires due to being tied down by existing IPs with established settings, rules, and style guides.

It's natural that these people would welcome a new opportunity. Legion just shipped, so now's the time to make their exit.

Bonfire Studios is obviously doing a bit of poaching, which goes hand-in-hand. Being based in Irvine, along with Blizzard (and Riot), means that it's fairly easy for them to do. Rob Pardo is a talented, well-liked guy who inspires confidence, and if not for the failure of Project Titan would probably still be at Blizzard. That said, it remains to be seen if they'll find success; certainly many other ex-Blizzard devs have tried this and they've all fallen on their faces.

What this means for Blizzard is that there's just a little bit more room for advancement. Some senior designers will be promoted to leads and ultimately some new talent will filter up through the corporate structure, and new hires will be brought in at entry levels. WoW is already a huge behemoth wrangled by countless people so it's unlikely to result in any huge changes to the direction of the game, but I'm betting we'll be meeting a few new team leads at Blizzcon.

And, of course, Metzen was sincerely retiring to spend time with his family and newborn kid. He'll probably eventually get the itch to do something creative again, but it's more likely that he'll write comics or books than get back into the games industry.

[goblingirl]

And, of course, Metzen was sincerely retiring to spend time with his family and newborn kid. He'll probably eventually get the itch to do something creative again, but it's more likely that he'll write comics or books than get back into the games industry.

I'd bet Metzen will be at Bonfire whenever his non-compete expires. He's taking a "retirement year" or whatever.

[Kathranis]

I'd bet Metzen will be at Bonfire whenever his non-compete expires. He's taking a "retirement year" or whatever.

I'd suggest listening to the most recent episode of the Instance podcast. Scott Johnson is friends with Metzen and offered some insight into the retirement. (He's also planning to have him on as a guest in a future episode.)

[Shibito]

Lol so much conspiracy which isnt allowed fyi

[skannerz22]

Long Careers come to an end, that is normal.

Do you honestly believe someone can stay in the same job for an infinite amount of time?

Yes, some people might. But the gaming industry is ever changing, this isnt a hotel job where you can linger forever.

but these people could of left earlier or later
yet they are leaving within a short time frame of each other

[Sierra85]

yet they are leaving within a short time frame of each other

it is kind of common though in the workforce, you see someone leave and you re-evaluate yourself and make a decision.

Its kind of like when a lot of couples are friends, one couple divorces, and then a bunch of others do the same thing.

domino effect. you see it in guilds too when people bail.

[Rekz]

http://www.bonfirestudios.com/ expect more Blizz devs joining this .. i guess many of the Blizz devs wanna go for their own game idea without some bigger company standing on top of them

What do you do when a Blizzard is approaching, you build a bonfire....get it?

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its either a sinking ship, or its a coincidence? it can't be both.

Where there's smoke there is fire. Why do we only hear of people joining Riot instead of leaving? If it were a dream job, no one would want to leave. Something's up.

[Averrix]

Change happens, it's nothing new in this kind of job.

[Deleted]

Blizzard is old... new companies will rule next decade.

[Auxora]

Some of the folks that left a couple of months back weren't that high up. Metzen was as high-profile as it gets, but I also think his departure in hindsight has been in the works for quite a while. Also, a number of Blizz folks who left have formed a new game company that got $25M in funding recently.

It's IT in California though, people leave for all kinds of reasons. Hoping for more money, personal conflicts, relocation, being able to take on larger responsibilities with another company, etc. Or just retirement in the case of Metzen. If someone anonymously comes forward and has actual real info that the company is awful to work for and the sky is falling at Blizzard, that's one thing. But Activision-Blizzard as a company is doing remarkably well (better than 2-3 years ago), and most of what we've heard is that they (at least the Blizzard portion) are very good to work for. So I wouldn't look into it as more than it is.

[Sanguinerd]

Maybe they stuck around to deliver one final good expansion and now that they've done so they feel comfortable to leave and explore different stuff..

Not everything has to be negative, not everything has to have some ulterior motive and at the end of the day it's just a business.