Blizzard is Losing So Many Employees That It Needs a Crisis Plan
One WoW developer is not thrilled with the approach of his superiors. It is said that so many people are expected to leave the studio that the team has to develop a „crisis map” of games to be released.
Completion of work on Diablo IV is good news for Blizzard fans, but the studio apparently has no reason to celebrate. According to one of the producers of World of Warcraft game Blizzard is losing too many employees and thus is having trouble completing projects.
The source of this information is "Glaxigrav," a company employee known to the fans for almost a decade (via Wayback Machine). The producer decided to raise the issue on Twitter in connection with the departure of "another person" this week.
Talents "leak" from Blizzard
As we read, Blizzard is losing talented developers "because someone in power isn't listening to game directors." He also mentioned that "diversity, equality and inclusion" at work should also mean "diversity of opinion."
Glaxigrav immediately added that he doesn't want to "fight," but only quietly make video games, "amazing bestsellers enthusiastically received by critics" and "better dragon flights" (in reference to the warmly received news of the latest expansion for WoW). The problem is that the situation is so bad that Blizzard supposedly has to create a "crisis map" of the games the company is able to deliver to the market.
Back (?) to the office
The main reason for the rift between the bosses and the producers under them is expected to be the implementation of a Return to Office ( or RTO for short; via GamesIndustry.biz) program in February and thus rejecting requests for permission to work remotely. This is quite a problem, and not just for the many people employed during the pandemic.
This has been confirmed by both Glaxigrav, as well as Allison Steele, a designer at Blizzard Entertainment studios. In response to the first tweet, she mentioned that this "self-destructive" policy has cost the studio "amazing people." Steele even suspects that the company made the decision as a way of a kind of "soft layoffs" to "save on severance packages."
It is possible that the departures are also the result of the introduction of an employee ranking system (which was opposed by Brian Birmingham, among others, fired in February) and earlier actions and allegations against Activision (owner of Blizzard), which are unlikely to have gone unnoticed by the Blizzard Entertainment team.
Gamers vent, Activision Blizzard clarifies.
Of course, Internet users don't need any suggestions (let alone evidence) to spin their own conjectures and throw mud at Activision Blizzard's management. Comments under Glaxigrav's post and in threads on social media are massively expressing their support for Blizzard's employees.
Activision Blizzard addressed the allegations in a statement for Massively Overpowered. A company representative stated that the employee mentioned by Glaxigrav "left of his own accord," and that "retention" (i.e. employment) at Blizzard has increased. He also added that the WoW team "is delivering more content than ever."
