Blizzard

Microsoft has confirmed it is set to lay off 1900 members of staff who work across Xbox and the newly acquired Activision Blizzard. First announced back at the start of 2022, Microsoft’s £57billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was finally approved last October but today (January 25), the company has confirmed roughly 9 per cent of its gaming division has been laid off. Most of the staff affected work for Activision Blizzard but some Xbox and ZeniMax employees will also be impacted. Activision Vision president Mike…

We're not even one month into 2024 and it's already been anther brutal year for workers in the video game industry. Microsoft is the latest company to announce a major round of layoffs in its gaming division as it's cutting around 1,900 workers from its Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax (aka Bethesda) teams. That brings the total number of video game layoffs this year to around 6,000 already. There were around 9,000 layoff in the industry in all of 2023, according to some estimates."As we move forward in 2024, the…

“Today’s actions affect multiple teams within Blizzard, including development teams, shared service organizations and corporate functions,” Matt Booty, head of Xbox Studios, said in a note to staff. “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.”As part of the announcement, Booty also confirmed that Blizzard president Mike Ybarra will be…

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…

Blizzard has revealed the next evolution of top-level Overwatch 2 esports after the demise of the Overwatch League. The publisher has teamed up with ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) to run the new Overwatch Champions Series (OWCS) under an exclusive multi-year agreement.OWCS is an open-format circuit in which teams from North America; Europe, Middle East, North Africa (EMEA); and Asia can compete without having to pay multi-million-dollar franchise fees. EFG will operate the Overwatch Champions Series in North America and EMEA,…

Brrr… it’s cold outside. So cold that even Walmart was put on blast after offering cheap ramen noodles to its employees who had been battling the blizzard. With record-breaking cold weather and nearly 80% of the USA expecting to see below-freezing temperatures, many residents have been urged to stay indoors.However, people whose workplaces didn’t close due to the weather, such as Walmart, had to brave the storm to trek to work.That’s when the retail giant’s Rockford, Illinois branch took to its social media to post a…

With Diablo 4 Season 3, Season of the Construct right around the corner, Blizzard hosted a Developer Update livestream showcasing the mechanics and new features coming to Diablo 4. The team highlighted the Season of the Construct’s new mechanics as well as some quality of life and other long-term features being added to the ARPG. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bic-HKs25I Season of the Construct details The seasonal content in Season of the Construct focuses on new Seneschal Companions. Players can acquire these…

With the new Diablo 4 season just a few days away from launch, Blizzard is holding a developer livestream to talk through the imminent changes. Diablo 4 Season of the Construct has a January 23 release date on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. It will add lots of new gameplay features, not to mention quality of life changes, enemies, bosses and rewards. If you want to find out what's changing and why, then watch the Blizzard developer livestream at 5pm GMT UK time on the afternoon of January 18. Express Online…

With Diablo 4 Season 3 just a week away, Blizzard has revealed quite a few details about the upcoming season. Titled Season of the Construct, the new season will feature mechanical constructs created by Diablo 3 character Zoltun Kulle. Alongside the new seasonal theme and mechanics, leaderboards and a handful of big quality-of-life features are also coming in this season including WASD movement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAwd0TKRLNQ Season of the Construct The most important content with each new season is the…

Microsoft In October 2023, Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and by the end of the year, the latter company’s CEO had departed. Now, this will be the year where we’ll see how Activision Blizzard functions when fully integrated into Microsoft. The most immediate change for those who play games will likely be Activision Blizzard titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s subscription service. Microsoft and Activision have explained that because of the tribulations the acquisition…