Blizzard Layoffs

If you haven't heard here is the press release.

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that it has conducted a review of its business based on current organizational needs. Following a completion of the review, the company is conducting a global reduction in workforce of approximately 600 employees. The company anticipates approximately 90% of the affected employees will come from departments not related to game development. The World of Warcraft® development team will not be impacted.

“Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the long-term health of any business. 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,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Knowing that, it still does not make letting go of some of our team members any easier. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the people impacted by today’s announcement, we’re proud of the contributions they made here at Blizzard, and we wish them well as they move forward.”


Blizzard's current development and publishing schedules will not be impacted. The company will announce specific release plans for Diablo® III in the near future, and it’s continuing to drive aggressively toward beta testing for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria™, Blizzard DOTA, and StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™. Blizzard also remains committed to maintaining its high standards of quality for customer service delivery.
 
Now there are many people panicing and going crazy that this means Blizzard is dying. That this has everything to do with going with Pandas, or is all about the delay of Diablo III. Fact of the matter is this is just something that companies go through. With better technology people can be replaced because you are able to become more efficient. It is that simple. So the world isn't ending, Blizzard is still going to be releasing some of the greatest games this world has ever seen, and if you read this even says "specific release plans for D3" so stop running around with pitch forks scream that Activision killed Blizzard it is not true. So take a step back and have a deep breath and everything will be ok.