Activision Blizzard Q4 2018 Earnings Call and Layoffs
Kotaku is reporting that Activision Blizzard is cutting positions across its organizations, including Blizzard. Layoffs at Blizzard are limited to non-development teams, both in the US and regional offices.
- Activision transferred publishing rights for Destiny back to Bungie earlier this year.
- Blizzard had 35M MAUs in the quarter, as Overwatch and Hearthstone saw stability and World of Warcraft saw expected declines post the expansion release this summer.
- Activision Blizzard wants to de-prioritize games and initiatives that aren't meeting expectations
- Activision Blizzard will be reducing certain non-development and administrative-related costs.
- Investing more for biggest, internally-owned franchises.
- More upfront releases, in-game content, mobile, and geographic expansion.
- Investments in esports leagues and advertising
- 20% increase in development resources in aggregate for Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Overwatch, Warcraft, Hearthstone and Diablo.
- World of Warcraft already has a regular cadence of releases and content.
- Diablo's headcount will grow substantially, as the teams work on multiple projects.