Over the past few days, Blizzard has held a Q&A session for company employees. The aim was to address the concerns of the teams, among which the employee evaluation system, the reduction of the profit-sharing bonus and the return to the office following more than two years of teleworking. However, not everything went as planned, especially because some of the comments made by President Mike Ybarra shocked those present.
Everything is fine we tell you
As explained Game Developper, the meeting proceeded normally until the moment to approach the system allowing to evaluate the performances of the employees. Ybarra would thus have minimized the comments by Brian Birmingham, lead software engineer on WoW. The latter had criticized on Twitter the company’s use of a “ranking” policy, which he said forced him to punitively rank an employee who was still performing well. The president would obviously have defended the method used, highlighting its advantages.
A nerf to the profit-sharing bonus
The situation worsened by addressing the reduction of the profit-sharing bonus, a savings plan allowing employees to be paid a bonus proportional to the results of their company. Blizzard has indeed decided to reduce the bonus to 58%, which has obviously been badly received, especially following a record last quarter of 2022 for Activision Blizzard.
According to several sources, Ybarra would have commented on the matter in the following way: “If you think that the executives earn a lot of money and you don’t, you live in a myth”. The cut made in the bonus thus concerns all employees, managers included. However, it goes without saying that this bonus is more important for employees who work in departments where the salary is historically low, as is the case in Quality Assurance.
What you need to know is that the Q&A did not offer the possibility for employees to react live to Mike’s answers. The meeting was held on Zoom and management had disabled chat options, limiting replies to smiley faces, the sources said.
Quality Assurance & Customer Support ? trash
Let’s now move on to the third annoying subject, the gradual abandonment of teleworking and the return to 100% in the office. It’s a delicate subject where each person has their own experience and a different opinion. For Activision Blizzard, however, it is important that everyone return to the office.
This announcement rekindled fears of greater exposure to Covid-19, but also raised questions for employees who were hired during the pandemic. If a worker is hired as a remote employee, they may not live near one of the offices, which might result in having to relocate or travel long distances. However, theActivision Blizzard’s return-to-office policy does not appear to contain corresponding salary bonuses to mitigate these new costs. Be aware, however, that some rumors certify that Blizzard intends to open new offices to serve as hubs for certain employees who live far from the cities where the company is already present.
The reduction in the bonus and the increase in the cost of living are particularly worrying for the lowest salaries, ie those in the Quality Assurance and Customer Support departments. On this subject, the words of Mike Ybarra did not reassure the employees, the latter pointing out that “some of our disciplines are not long-term disciplines”.
This implies that Blizzard Entertainment, but also Activision Blizzard in general, does not intend to offer opportunities for development or long careers in these departments. The company claims to want “people to flourish and take on greater responsibilities”, but it seems much preferable to move towards other disciplines if you are considering a career in the company, with all the advantages that this entails. involves in financial terms. Working in Quality Assurance should therefore be seen as a springboard rather than a possible career in the video game industry.
Several Blizzard employees have also expressed their concerns in terms of job losses. They are afraid that the abandonment of teleworking will discourage certain talents who will therefore leave the company to apply elsewhere. Mike Ybarra, however, was unable to reassure workers regarding this:
Ultimately, we want people to be happy, and if decisions regarding happiness don’t align with our orientation, and you won’t be happy, then you have to do what makes you happy.
In other words, you are free to leave the company if it does not suit you. Ybarra nevertheless assured that the team will listen to its employees and will do its best to make the best decisions possible, both for the company and to serve the players in the long term.
Conclusion
Between the pandemic and the various scandals that have come to light since the summer of 2021, the past two years have been difficult for Blizzard employees. The arrival of Mike Ybarra seemed to have sounded like a new beginning for this company adored by gamers for more than two decades.
The meeting seems to have cast a chill among the teams and according to Game Developer, the employees are particularly surprised by the comments made by their president. Usually, it’s Activision Blizzard and Robert Kotick who are singled out. Today, it’s Mike Ybarra and Blizzard officials who are under fire from the critics.
