Blizzard workers furious after ‘demoralizing’ Q&A meeting
Blizzard Entertainment workers throughout the World of Warcraft and Overwatch 2 publisher say they are demoralized, outraged, and upset after a meeting held Thursday by Blizzard president Mike Ybarra. Shortly after that meeting, Blizzard staff began tweeting about what they called a disappointing showing from leadership, and publicly challenged Ybarra’s statements. Their outward show of solidarity comes as some video game industry workers — including those at Activision Blizzard itself — continue efforts to organize the industry’s first labor unions.
Game Developer on Thursday published a detailed account of the meeting, describing a Q&A that intended to address an “employee satisfaction survey.” Blizzard leadership pre-screened questions about its “stack ranking” process for evaluating employees, reduced profit-sharing, and the company’s return-to-office mandate. Polygon has since spoken to several Blizzard developers who described the low morale that followed the meeting.
Blizzard spokesperson Andrew Reynolds confirmed many points made during the meeting, and told Polygon the company stands by Ybarra’s statements and “leadership in tough moments.”
Game Developer said the reduced profit-sharing plan, which would see workers receiving just 58% of their promised bonus, came as a shock; two weeks ago, Activision Blizzard announced quarterly financial results that it called a kickoff to a “strong financial performance in 2023.” At Blizzard Entertainment specifically, sales and operating income nearly doubled — a staggering 90% — as Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo all generated more than $100 million in net bookings, Activision Blizzard said.
Ybarra spoke about profit sharing at the meeting, suggesting that workers who
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