Activision Blizzard to lay off 400 employees in California after Microsoft merger

Activision Blizzard Inc. will lay off nearly 400 employees across its mobile gaming divisions in California, following last year’s $75.4 billion merger with Microsoft Corp. The company is eliminating these positions to reduce redundancies created by the merger.

According to filings with the California Employment Development Department (EDD), the layoffs are set to impact operations from Northern California’s Novato and Foster City to the company’s Southern California offices. This adds to the 1,003 jobs already cut by Activision in the past year.

The cuts include 140 positions at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, beginning from October 11, affecting roles such as accountants, software engineers, human resources staff, artists, game designers, and producers. High-level roles like game director and vice president are also impacted, as stated in a letter by Leslie Campbell, Activision Blizzard’s director of human resources.

Activision Blizzard spokeswoman Delay Simmons confirmed the layoffs, attributing them to previously announced reductions. Simmons highlighted that these cuts follow earlier layoffs, including 1,900 positions eliminated in January across Microsoft Gaming’s divisions, which include Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax Media, as well as 650 layoffs earlier this month.

The most recent layoffs, detailed in a letter dated September 12, primarily impact corporate and support roles, along with some positions in gaming teams. Software designers, engineers, and product managers working on mobile versions of Call of Duty: Warzone and World of Warcraft are among those affected.

Gaming research analyst Michael Pachter from Wedbush Securities noted that overlapping teams were working on these mobile projects, leading to redundancies.

Additional layoffs will occur at Activision’s Jefferson Boulevard studio in Playa Vista and the Olympic Boulevard studio in Santa Monica, starting October 11 and concluding by the end of the year.

These job cuts are part of the WARN notice process, a legal requirement for employers conducting mass layoffs of more than 50 employees