In context: In what's been a turbulent year for the publishing giant, seeing stagnating growth in key titles such as Overwatch and Hearthstone, as well as losing the Destiny IP, Activision is reportedly planning a restructuring effort aimed at increasing profitability. However, that effort could see hundreds lose their jobs.
Bloomberg reports that Activision Blizzard is planning massive layoffs Tuesday, ahead of a quarterly earnings call. The cuts, which are expected to number in the hundreds, are part of a greater restructuring effort to cut expenses and increase profitability. The rumblings come after what's been a tepid year for both Activision and Blizzard.
Blizzard has seen no shortage of controversy this year; they've lost a CEO, paid employees to leave, and taking center stage is the infamous Diablo: Immortal announcement. They also all of a sudden dropped their Esports program for Heroes of The Storm and haven't introduced a new game since 2016. Meanwhile, Activision has seen similar troubles, losing executives of their own and acknowledging a declining growth in games like Overwatch and Hearthstone. They also famously lost one of their major franchises, Destiny 2.
The loss of Destiny is speculated to cost Activision over $400 million in revenue by 2020, and shares dropped as much as 2.5 percent last Friday.
While there's no official word from Activision, according to Kotaku, the layoffs will primarily target non-development positions -- publishing, marketing, sales, etc. Activision would have no doubt had a massive team dedicated to just the Destiny 2 IP. With Bungie taking Destiny with them in the divorce, there's bound to be many who can't make a lateral move to another team or project.
Activision isn't alone in the struggle, as Electronic Arts recently reported a tough quarter of their own.
https://www.techspot.com/news/78676-activision-blizzard-reportedly-planning-hundreds-layoffs.html
