The second week of September brought more bad news for game workers in Microsoft, as the company confirmed another 650 layoffs were coming that would “mostly” affect its gaming division according to a memo from CEO Phil Spencer, followed by later reporting that seemed to suggest that Blizzard would be taking the brunt. We now have official confirmation that, indeed, Blizzard will be the primary focus of these job cuts, to the tune of nearly 400 employees.
The layoffs in question will be focused in California, affecting 140 employees in Irvine, 110 in Santa Monica, and 143 in Playa Vista. As Spencer’s memo noted, the cuts are directed at what Blizzard terms as “corporate and supporting roles” according to a statement from spokeswoman Delay Simmons, including accountants, software engineers, World of Warcraft’s HR director, artists, and game producers, among others.
Readers will recall that this shedding of employees has been happening through the year as part of reducing “redundancies” after Microsoft acquired Activision-Blizzard for billions of dollars, while the corporation elected to enrich its investors through a stock buyback. But it’s fine, the affected employees can just take an Uber and live on the beach for a year.
