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Blizzard Entertainment, the publisher of the perennial blockbuster World of Warcraft online game, said today it is cutting its staff by 600 employees.
That’s a big chunk of an estimated 5,000 employees for the company, which is based in Irvine, Calif. About 90 percent of the cuts will come from areas not directly related to game development. The layoffs are likely the biggest in the company’s history, since it has been growing fast since the launch of World of Warcraft in 2004.
“Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the long-term health of any business,” Blizzard president and CEO Mike Morhaime said in a statement. “Over the last several years, we’ve grown our organization tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community. However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we’ve also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company.”
Blizzard said it remains committed to shipping several games this year, including Diablo 3, Blizzard DOTA, and expansions for Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft as well as “other unannounced projects.” Blizzard will reportedly announce Diablo 3, a major fantasy title, in the coming weeks.
Read more here.
That’s a big chunk of an estimated 5,000 employees for the company, which is based in Irvine, Calif. About 90 percent of the cuts will come from areas not directly related to game development. The layoffs are likely the biggest in the company’s history, since it has been growing fast since the launch of World of Warcraft in 2004.
“Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the long-term health of any business,” Blizzard president and CEO Mike Morhaime said in a statement. “Over the last several years, we’ve grown our organization tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community. However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we’ve also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company.”
Blizzard said it remains committed to shipping several games this year, including Diablo 3, Blizzard DOTA, and expansions for Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft as well as “other unannounced projects.” Blizzard will reportedly announce Diablo 3, a major fantasy title, in the coming weeks.
Read more here.
