{"id":155858,"date":"2025-09-20T14:20:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/activision-blizzards-esports-division-suffers-layoffs\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:20:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:20:28","slug":"activision-blizzards-esports-division-suffers-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/activision-blizzards-esports-division-suffers-layoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Activision Blizzards Esports Division Suffers Layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Activision Blizzard has laid off approximately 50 employees from its esports division<\/a>, partly\u00a0due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a\u00a0lack of live event opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following a year of quarantines and social isolation, the company has decided to continue its shift away from live events, even post-COVID. In a report from Sports Business Journal<\/em><\/a>, as shared by esports insider Rod Breslau, the decision indicates future moves planned once society returns to a semblance of normalcy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an interview with Activision Blizzard president of sports and entertainment Tony Petitti, he confirmed that the divisions impacted the most have to do with both the Overwatch and Call of Duty leagues. According to Petitti, this is a part of a larger shift regarding how the company tackles its event-centered business and is part of the strategy to become “less dependent” on this social gathering type.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While this doesn’t mean that live events will be going away completely, the pandemic has dramatically altered the face of esports over the past year. Not just Blizzard-related competitive scenes, either; esports as a whole has seen a dramatic pivot away from flashy on-stage events due to safety concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We learned a lot last year in terms of how the leagues can be structured for online play, and we\u2019ll look to carry forward the best practices from that,\u201d said the president during the interview. “In terms of timing, it\u2019s a reaction to the realities of how the leagues are playing and what resources we need to allocate to serve best the league, owners, teams, and fans.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

He then added that the decision to lay off about 50 employees wasn’t a decision they made “lightly.” However, the memory of when this same company abruptly cut over 800 jobs\u00a0is still fresh<\/a>\u00a0from 2019, and it then shortly followed those cuts with a call for\u00a0approximately 2,000\u00a0new\u00a0employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A separate, later report from\u00a0Bloomberg<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>indicates the layoffs aren’t just impacting the esports division. In response to a wider range of layoffs, a spokesperson told the site that other areas affected include Candy Crush developer\u00a0King. However, the exact number of those employees impacted is not known at this time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Included in the severance is a 90-day package and continued health benefits for one year post-layoffs.\u00a0Bloomberg\u00a0<\/em>also reported that as part of that severance, all employees impacted also received a $200 gift card to Battle.net, the launcher for Blizzard games.\u00a0<\/p>\n

[Source:\u00a0Sports Business Journal<\/a> via Twitter<\/a><\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Activision Blizzard has laid off approximately 50 employees from its esports division, partly\u00a0due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a\u00a0lack of live event opportunities.\u00a0 Following a year of quarantines and social isolation, the company has decided to continue its shift away from live events, even post-COVID. In a report from Sports Business Journal, as shared by esports insider Rod Breslau, the decision indicates future moves planned once society returns to a semblance of normalcy.\u00a0 In an interview with Activision Blizzard president of sports and entertainment Tony Petitti, he confirmed that the divisions impacted the most have to do with both the Overwatch and Call of Duty leagues. According to Petitti, this is a part of a larger shift regarding how the company tackles its…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-informer"],"yoast_head":"\nActivision Blizzards Esports Division Suffers Layoffs | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Activision Blizzard has laid off approximately 50 employees from its esports division, partly\u00a0due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulting in a\u00a0lack of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/activision-blizzards-esports-division-suffers-layoffs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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