Microsoft × Activison Blizzard: Nach der Übernahme müssen 1.900 Angestellte gehen
Auch 2024 geht es allerorts mit Entlassungen in der Gaming-Branche weiter. Jetzt wurde bekannt, dass Microsoft rund 1.900 Angestellte im Bereich Xbox entlässt, die überwiegend zuvor für Activision Blizzard King tätig waren. Die Kürzungen betreffen etwa 8 Prozent der gesamten Gaming-Sparte, die rund 22.000 Mitarbeiter umfasst.
Microsoft räumt bei Activision Blizzard auf
Die jüngste Kündigungswelle geht aus einem internen Schreiben des Microsoft-Gaming-CEOs Phil Spencer hervor, das The Verge vorliegt. In erster Linie beziehen sich die Entlassungen auf Mitarbeiter, die mit der vor rund drei Monaten final vollzogenen, knapp 69 Milliarden US-Dollar schweren Übernahme von Activision Blizzard King zu Microsoft kamen; aber auch Positionen bei Xbox und ZeniMax und damit potenziell bei Bethesda werden gestrichen. Die genaue Aufteilung respektive Gewichtung der Kündigung auf die einzelnen Microsoft-Studios bleibt unbekannt.
It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft. As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth.
As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. [...] The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here. We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws. [...]
Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO
In erster Linie gehe es darum, so Phil Spencer, Kosten einzusparen und daher unnötige Überschneidungen anzugehen, die mit der Übernahme der Activision-Strukturen entstanden sind. Die betroffenen Mitarbeiter sollen Abfindungen erhalten.
Auch Führungskräfte (müssen) gehen
Im Zuge der Entlassungen tritt außerdem Blizzard-Präsident Mike Ybarra zurück. Ybarra wurde im August 2021 Präsident, nachdem sein Vorgänger J. Allen Brack das Unternehmen im Kontext des Sexismus-Skandals verlassen hatte. Ein neuer Blizzard-Präsident soll im Laufe der nächsten Woche bekanntgegeben werden.
Diese Ankündigung kommt überraschend, weil Ybarra noch zur Hausmesse BlizzCon im November 2023 zu Protokoll gegeben hatte, dass er im Grunde genommen ein Leben lang bei Blizzard bleiben wolle. Inwiefern Ybarra seine Meinung geändert hat oder aber von Microsoft zum Rücktritt bewegt wurde, bleibt Spekulation.
Derweil verlässt auch Allen Adham, bislang Chief Design Officer bei Blizzard, das Unternehmen. Der skandalträchtige und daher äußerst umstrittene ehemalige Activision-Blizzard-CEO Bobby Kotick hat bereits Ende Dezember seinen Posten räumen müssen – gegen eine Abfindung von rund 400 Millionen US-Dollar.
Blizzards Survival-Spiel wird eingestellt
Wie Matt Booty, bei Microsoft zuständig für Spiele und Entwicklerstudios, in einem internen Schreiben verrät, hat Microsoft außerdem das im Januar 2022 angekündigte, aber bis dato weitestgehend unbekannte Survival-Spiel Blizzards eingestellt. Stattdessen sollen sich die Angestellten, die bislang für „Projekt Odyssey“ verantwortlich zeichneten und nun nicht entlassen wurden, fortan auf „zahlreiche vielversprechende neue Projekte“ konzentrieren, die sich aber noch in frühen Entwicklungsphasen befinden.
Blizzard team,
As you may have read in Phil’s note, today is a challenging day as we say goodbye to some of our colleagues. This is a difficult process, but it is one that will best enable Blizzard and Xbox to deliver ambitious games for our players on more platforms and in more places than ever before. We are moving forward with a more focused strategy across Microsoft Gaming that sets us up for sustainable growth and aligns our talent and resources to our top priorities.
In addition to the events today, Mike Ybarra and I have been discussing his future and some of his personal passions for some time. As many of you know, Mike previously spent more than 20 years at Microsoft. Now that he has seen the acquisition through as Blizzard’s president, he has decided to leave the company. As we move forward, we will continue to build on the positive momentum that Mike created and strive to continue exceeding the expectations of Blizzard’s players. I want to thank Mike for his leadership and for his partnership and counsel since the deal closed. I know he plans to travel and spend more time with his family. We wish him the very best.
Additionally, Allen Adham, Blizzard’s Chief Design Officer, is leaving the company. As one of Blizzard’s cofounders, Allen has had a broad impact on all of Blizzard’s games. His influence will be felt for years to come, both directly and indirectly as Allen plans to continue mentoring young designers across the industry.
The new Blizzard President will be announced next week.
What Happens Next
Those who are impacted are being informed in meetings starting today. Given the challenging day ahead, anyone who is set up to work from home and would prefer to, can work remotely today. Due to time zones and local holidays, some impacted employees in APAC and EMEA will be informed later this evening and into early next week. After the notifications are complete, leaders will bring their teams together. Please be mindful of this process in your conversations and outreach during these next few days.
Details on Today’s Actions
The changes announced today reflect a focus on products and strategies that hold the most promise for Blizzard’s future growth, as well as identified areas of overlap across Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming. Today’s actions affect multiple teams within Blizzard, including development teams, shared service organizations and corporate functions. As part of this focus, Blizzard is ending development on its survival game project and will be shifting some of the people working on it to one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development.
No matter the reason behind these decisions, they are never made lightly. Changes like these affect the lives of colleagues and friends, and we are all grateful for their meaningful contributions to Blizzard and its world class lineup of games. As Phil stated, we will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws.
I understand that this is a challenging time and that it can be a lot to process. I haven’t met many of you yet, and hearing about these decisions from me may be difficult. Today, I am here on Blizzard’s Irvine campus, and I am personally committed to supporting you as teams and individuals, keeping you informed, and approaching this transition period with care and transparency.
Thank you for working through these changes with us. Together we will continue to create amazing games for our players, with a culture that empowers everyone to be their most authentic selves and do their best work.
Matt
Matt Booty, Microsoft Game Content and Studios President