Activision and Blizzard Layoffs

If you’ve ever been through an acquisition or merger you’d have expected this news to come, but for those new to the concept it’s simple: you can’t keep everyone. After a complete merger you end up with two sales departments, two IT departments, etc.

Do you really need them all? No, not really. You’ll need to keep some on board in order to “brain dump” your job onto others and hopefully stick around for the long hall. Some employees will probably be shuffled to other job responsibilities while some get packages and a thank you card.

These are some of the growing pains when working towards a successful merger, so don’t be surprised or start spreading rumors when a few people are let go. As someone who’s gone through it in two big mergers I can say that certain departments already know their fate ahead of time. Many IT and sales folk start looking for new jobs the minute the merger is announced.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 476: A Man ChoosesEpisode 476: A Man Chooses

The Gaming Podcast is back after a week off, and it celebrates the 10th year anniversary of BioShock with its own Gaming Flashback. They also touch on its sequels, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite.

It’s not all BioShock, however, as the following news items are discussed:

  • Bethesda Game Of Thrones project potentially leaked
  • PUBG becomes the biggest game on Steam
  • $200 price cut brings HTC Vive down to $599
  • Thimbleweed Park’s arcade is now open

Let us know if you enjoyed any of the BioShock games.

Episode 342: Arcade MemoriesEpisode 342: Arcade Memories

Gaming Podcast is back, as Jonah and Jordan discuss arcade games from yore. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the classic Half-Life 2 by Valve, which ushered in a new age of shooters that get massive delays.

This week’s news includes:

  • Twitch coming to Xbox One on March 11
  • Microsoft appoints Stephen Elop to head Xbox
  • King files to abandon controversial “Candy” trademark in US
  • Nintendo wins 3DS patent dispute
  • Layoffs at Sony Santa Monica

Also included is Listener Feedback and the Question of the Week: “What was your favorite coin-op arcade game?”

Bioshock PS3: Later But BetterBioshock PS3: Later But Better

Bioshock arrived on the Xbox 360 almost August of 2007, about one year from this month. It’s set to arrive on the PlayStation 3 in October of 2008, over one year after the Xbox 360 version. Is it too late?

For those that have decided to buy a PlayStation 3 and hold out on the Xbox 360, it will be their first time with full access to the Bioshock title. For everyone else, it’s the same game with prettier graphics and a slight update in difficulty.

Bioshock was well received by both reviewers and video game players last year, will this be a repeat or simply sit on the shelf begging to be played? Bioshock sold 490,900 copies the month of its original release, we’d love to know if it can do it twice.

Kotaku is reporting that “they’ve instead decided to cut off pretty much all of your ammo, leaving you in many instances to pick up a gun with a single bullet in it. It’ll also jack up the price of plasmids, reduce the amount of health vita chambers give you and just generally make the game, oh, impossible.”

Harder, prettier graphics but … too late?