Administrative costs = customer support? Yeah, why would we need that maintained after reaching the best level since the release of WoW.
Blizz is focusing on WarCraft "games" and Diablo, huh?
No major releases for 2019.Great. We'll get something eventually at least, but it's gonna be a very boring year it seems.
Record profits, but short of goals. Laying off 8% of staff. That actually sounds about right. Of course context is key. They're laying off some people and increasing manpower in other departments. This happens a lot in the business world. I've seen this at my own place of employment. I'd caution people to not read too much into the layoff part. The lack of new content in 2019 bit is a bit disconcerting though.
See here's the thing, 2019 was never going to be big for WoW. Transitional year businesswise (which we're learning now), and a transitional story to move to something big. This makes sense because, as I've said, they are taking up this time (too much of it, IMO) to tell a necessary but uncomfortable story: They're grinding out the last gasp of the faction divide so they can explode into high concept stories aimed at a united player base in the greater WoW universe. Rough as it is to be a player through this story, this is the time to do this.I expect Blizzcon 2019, announcing products for BEYOND 2019, to be a mind blower for WoW and maybe Diablo. They're turning a ship that they've said many times must turn slow, and they're force-turning it with uncomfortable speed. It's gonna hurt, it's going to be boring, it's going to lean on systems meant to keep us engaged with the game if not the story... but once the ship is turned, the future is bright.Obviously that future brightness doesn't put food on laid off people's tables. That part is not cool, full stop.
Sounds like 2019 is a good time to take a break.
Sad to hear about the layoffs, it never feels good to read about the layoff and hope all those people find new jobs soon! It's great to hear that it sounds like Warcraft is back to be the big focus with an even bigger dev team, Also love WoW also has a content pipeline established of regular releases.
Not great news, but not exactly "the sky is falling" that the chicken little neck-beard overlords on Twitch thought.
We're doing so well that we're going to cut the staff out of necessity...ok
Yeah, between the loss of Destiny, the end of HOTS esports and general upkeep, as well as the implied decline of Starcraft 2 support, a restructuring was very likely. While some would likely be able to move to fill positions elsewhere in the company, you are not going to be able to find jobs for all of them.EDIT: They also have no big releases coming for the year? Ouch. Yeah this was going to be a rough, belt-tightening year. Sucks for everyone.
I fully expect the next expansion named at Blizzcon this year. With 8.2 coming in the summer and the possible next Xpac possibly next late spring or early summer (2020) that means we should have at least an 8.3 and maybe 8.3.5 patches.If we don't get a patch 8.3 or even 8.3.5 in the fall of 2019, that is another long drought that WoW can't afford.
"They are also de-prioritizing initiatives that aren't meeting expectations, as well as in administrative areas."Serious question. Does the initiative include Diablo, HotS, Overwatch, and SC2?I'm only a casual player but the games seem stagnant.
while this is mixed, this part is the most important for us actually
They got Ythisens. I don't know how to feel any more.
What do they mean with "more warcraft games"?
Well, at least we will have WoW CLASSIC in the summer!
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