The greedy boss wants the remained employees work double....It is labor standard these days and forever...
Activision cuts 30 jobs
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Call of Duty publisher layoffs affect one half of one percent of total headcount, are a result fewer licensed games to be released in 2013.
Activision Publishing has confirmed to Kotaku today that it has laid off 30 employees (one half of one percent of its total workforce) in a business realignment related to the company releasing fewer licensed games in 2013.
"Like any successful business, Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues; this is an ongoing process. In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate," the company said in a statement.
"Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally, which represents approximately one half of one percent of Activision Blizzard's employee population," the statement continued. "We are offering those employees who are impacted outplacement counseling services."
Licensed Activision games due for release in 2013 include The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Deadpool, and the first of three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. Activision's James Bond licensing deal is reportedly set to expire.
Of the 30 cuts, some came from Call of Duty: Black Ops II developer Treyarch Studios. Activision said these layoffs are not out of the ordinary and will not affected the release of future downloadable content.
"Now that we have launched Black Ops II, we are taking a minimal reduction in staff to better align our development talent against the needs of DLC development," the company said. "The release of the DLC will not be impacted by this move."
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
93 comments
2 Like "Like any successful business blah blah blah...[cut to] Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally".
So Activision, you just can't say the word 'fired' or even 'let go'? LAME! Tell those employees all about your success, I'm sure it will make it all better.
But hey, it's only one-half of one percent of your workforce...so it's no big deal, right?
1 Like Why is it news when a game studio lays people off? They do this all the time. It's indicative of the industry as a whole, bulk up for a project, lay people off.
I feel bad for people who wasted their college years learning game design to get into an industry that forces you to be a nomad, going from one crummy overworked gig to the next.
LIBERAL ARTS FOR LYFE!
1 Like And to think "one half of one percent" is considered a positive spin. Good luck to them.
This is not news, that's a non-event for everybody but the 30 people concerned.
Must've been a slow day on games news.
2 Like They are swimming in money yet still cut 30 people simply becouse theyll have less games coming out in 2013? That is fucking horrible..........
2 Like When the headline reads: "ACTIVISION BOARD MEMBERS FIRE BOBBY KOTICK"
Then I will be happy.
I'd prefer "ACTIVISION BOARD MEMBERS FIRE BOBBY KOTICK, THEN KILL THEMSELVES." Kotick may be the current face of corporate villainy in the game industry, but there's a hell of a lot more than just him behind it all. The upper levels of EA, Ubisoft, and especially Sony ("we can take away advertised features, sue you for trying to get them back, and then force you to sign away your right to sue us--also, we're the kingpins behind both the RIAA and MPAA and we basically own your government") are all equally responsible for industry's increasingly anti-consumer tactics.
@PSYCHOV3N0M And then they get someone similar or even worse to replace him, I'd wager. Just because they fire someone doesn't mean Activision's active vision will change.
@Hurvl @PSYCHOV3N0M As Rich Hall says, Just because the Colonels face is on the bucket, don't mean he makes the chicken
1 Like Because they haven't profited billions off the last 3 COD titles in 3 consecutive years?
0.05% of people lost their jobs? and how is this news? that is literally the smallest number possible lol. That's sad for them, but I mean most companies lose more than that per year anyway...
@Patohua1 Wow, someone failed maths at school.
One half of one percent is half a percent 0.5%
True, but still sad compared to how much Activision makes. But Acti has to re-align.. and re-align again.. wait.. they're not done. More realignment.
In other news, the company I work for just laid off 600 people. And we make a helluva lot less than Activision.
@HAZCHEM88 Last time I checked, the company was doing well financially, the execs are doing their jobs they were hired to do and keep doing. When the COD bubble bursts and the company starts making losses, THEN the company can start firing execs. Fact of the matter is, companies let go of lower level staff go all the time when they feel they are no longer needed. Not just in Activision and the gaming industry, but any industry period.
6 Like They are rats..
make millions of dollars then cut the staff who made these games and keep making money off them.
F U Activision!
This isn't news, and it's not something anyone should give a rats ass about.
As evidenced by the flood of non sequiturs in this thread, all far more interesting than hearing about 30 people who made games no one wanted (rightfully) losing their jobs.
3 Like this makes sense... it only takes 5 idiots and a lebanese monkey to polish and grind out a new call of duty game...
1 Like would love to know how you came to that conclusion from reading a 2 sentence joke.... from what you have said i can tell your not a man who oves pickles
oh you were joking? my bad i didnt realize you were purposely trying to sound like a ignorant idiot
my mistake
Yeah, game development is really hard...especially when you're editing an already made game and calling it The Leech 20: Modder Bugfare 10.
Yes, I do.
I'm also currently in the process of learning to develop games(programming; modeling/texturing; etc.)
Words cannot express how much I hate Activision. What they need to do is sell the company off to someone else who would make use of its resources to produce good games!
Lay off 30 executives and you'll be getting somewhere. For the same price, they could probably afford 300 actual game developers, and well-paid ones at that, with the added benefit of having 30 fewer do-nothing money pits sitting around pretending to be people and wasting air.
You don't need that many people to make one game a year. On top of the fact that the guys who don't make the game but just pick who does what need more money because the millions upon millions that they make all year around (including the DLC at this point) isn't enough for them.
8 Like well i dount they need too many people working on the cod games. they can put one of those together in a couple weeks.
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Related Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
- Publisher(s): Activision
- Developer(s): Treyarch
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: M
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