Activision Blizzard Confirms Layoffs on the Hearthstone Team After Former Employees Share Job Losses

mmorpg.com:

Last night, talk of layoffs from Activision Blizzard affecting the Hearthstone team began to circulate, with several employees sharing the news. Among them was an engineer that had been with the company for 18 years.

Hunter C, the person who was laid off after 18 years, shareda post to LinkedIn saying “After 18 and a half years at Blizzard Entertainment, I've been laid off without notice as of today; the Hearthstone Team is apparently being restructured and my Tools Engineer role is no longer needed”.

There was some additional speculation as word began being shared via social media, including another post on X from a former Blizzard employee, Valentine Powell. Their post said that multiple sources had confirmed layoffs were happening. 

Since there was just speculation at that time, we reached out for comment and an Activision Blizzard spokesperson confirmed that several employees had been let go: “Organizational changes were made to the Hearthstone team; as a result a small number of roles have become redundant. We want to thank these employees for their many contributions."

This round of layoffs is being called “small” but it is the latest in the industry and the latest for Activision Blizzard itself. The company’s esports team saw some significant layoffs this summer as the Overwatch League was also set to restructure.

Yesterday’s layoff news began to circulate on the same day that Blizzard vet Chris Metzen’s new title and full-time role was announced. Metzen, who returned to Blizzard at the end of 2022, is now the Executive Creative Director of the Warcraft universe. 

With Metzen already on the Warcraft franchise team and working on World of Warcraft, some considered the timing to distract from the Hearthstone