Activision Blizzard reportedly planned massive layoffs

By Adam Bankhurst

Activision Blizzard reportedly announced job cuts that could "be in the hundreds" as a result of the slowdown in sales by the company responsible for securities such as Call of Duty and Overwatch.

As reported by Bloomberg, the announcement of these layoffs could arrive as early as Tuesday and is "part of a restructuring to centralize functions and increase profits".

Activision Blizzard shares lost about 2.5% on Friday, confirming the story "which was recognized in a conference call in November that some key titles, such as Overwatch and Hearthstone, had a fixed or down from users ".

In addition, after Destiny 2: Forsaken did not achieve the expected results, the group split the developer Bungie and Destiny IP, which could "reduce annual revenue by $ 400 million".

Jason Schreier, of Kotaku, also said that these layoffs should "concern primarily game development departments, such as publishing, marketing and sales".

Schreier also indicates that these layoffs may occur primarily within Blizzard, transferring some roles to Activision itself, "further reducing Blizzard's autonomy."

Although Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 was one of the best-selling games in 2018, last year also brought controversial information, including the announcement and reaction of the mobile title, Diablo: Immortal and the departure of some leaders.

Activision Blizzard is not the only company to deal with certain issues, EA recently had a difficult financial quarter and hopes Apex Legends and Anthem will help it in the future.

Adam Bankhurst is an IGN journalist who wants only the best for those who could be affected by these layoffs. You can follow him on Twitter @ AdamBankhurst.