This article originally ran under a different banner/website in December of 2018 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
SEASON’S GREETING TO YOU, MY FOLLOWERS!!! You might find me in a grinchy mood on the eve of Christmas. I was hoping I could sit back and just review some smaller games as the year comes to a close. I was really looking forward to discussing Subnautica while it was free on Epic’s new store. Unfortunately, we have to talk about Activision-Blizzard. No, I am not here to beat the Diablo Immortals horse some more. Something a bit more subtle and slimy has occurred that solidifies my option that Activision has infected and is in the process of killing Blizzard. With longtime former CEO, Mike Morhaime, gone from Blizzard, Activision has seized the opportunity to gain full control over Blizzard. The main message is clear as freshly fallen snow on a Christmas morning: cut costs. Activision wants more games like Overwatch, as the success of the Overwatch loot boxes continues to rake in more cash. Activision wants Blizzard to abandon their commitment to quality in exchange for more games for more revenue.
With Activision looking to penny pinch, Blizzard released a post on December 13, detailing how they would be shifting developers off of their MOBA title, Heroes of the Storm, onto other projects. As someone who enjoys Heroes of the Storm, this news didn’t bother me too much. I never thought Heroes of the Storm needed to be a big game; I certainly didn’t think it needed loot boxes or its unique characters. Looking at you, Orphea. Certainly, a few developers moving to other projects isn’t a bad thing, and I certainly wouldn’t be here in the cold if that was it. However, the article goes onward to say that Blizzard will be canceling Heroes of the Storm esports events such as Heroes Global Championship and Heroes of the Dorm. With this one simple blog post, Activision-Blizzard essentially laid off about two hundred players, coaches, and casters. A large percentage of these members of the HOTS esports scene stated that this news came out of nowhere, commenting there was no sign of this coming from Blizzcon. Numerous players, including rookies, expressed how they put their life on hold to chase their HOTS esports dream. On top of that, this news came out so close to the holiday season. What? Did Activision put Ebenezer Scrooge in charge of Blizzard? Is he going to make Tiny Tim come in on Christmas to animate the next Overwatch character?
While the argument could be made that going into esports is a gamble, that doesn’t excuse the fact Blizzard gave no warning to players, coaches and casters. This isn’t the first time, employees have been essentially laid off in a blog post. Rather than inform their employees the company was going bankrupt, Telltale decided that employees can learn about their termination and the company’s financial woes through a blog post. It is no secret that the gaming industry doesn’t treat its employees that well. If these two stories of blog posts for pink slips aren’t enough, just look at all the ridiculous crunch stories. From Rockstar’s hundred-hour workweeks for Red Dead Redemption 2 to CD Projekt Red’s dismissive attitude to crunch periods, we can’t continue to tolerate these stories. Soon there might not be any more employees in the gaming industry left.
Can I be real a second? Just a millisecond? Let down my Doomsayer guard and tell the people how I feel a second? Now, I have personally have considered a career in the gaming industry. Nothing would make me more excited than writing for a game like the Witcher 3 or the newly announced The Outer Worlds. I have even applied for a writer’s position at Blizzard Entertainment a few years back. I didn’t get the position, because I didn’t have a portfolio at the time. Part of me, though, is glad that I didn’t get the position and I can casually write as a hobby. That should terrify people who like games. There are probably millions like me, who want to work in the games industry but look at how the industry treats their workers and decide not to pursue that path. That honestly sucks. It sucks that creative and talented people would turn away the opportunity to create imaginative interactive stories because they don’t want to be mistreated in an industry that values shareholders over actual customers and employees.
My point is, even though these players were playing in an esports scene that might not have been making Activision-Blizzard enough money to swan dive into, these players, coaches, and casters are people Blizzard hired and need to take care of. They are no different from the developers working on these future games that Activision wants to be pumped out. They shouldn’t let go in an informal blog post. Future employees are looking at this and thinking, why should I go work for Blizzard. Why should I go work for Activision? I could be working on their next title, see the blog post saying the project is canceled and all the developers are being let go. If we want the art of games to continue, we must start demanding companies to start caring about their employees. We need to start taking the concept of crunch seriously, and we shouldn’t let companies let the whole esports division go. Companies need to start putting their employees before dollar signs or else the end is nigh.