The latest financial report from Activision-Blizzard shows great fourth quarter 2018 results. Unfortunately, it has also seen around 800 staff hit by layoffs, per Kotaku. Yesterday, Jason Schreier from Kotaku wrote the following:
Publisher Activision Blizzard has begun its long-rumored layoff process, informing employees this afternoon that it will be cutting staff. On an earnings call this afternoon, the company said that it would be eliminating 8% of its staff. In 2018, Activision Blizzard had roughly 9,600 employees, which would mean nearly 800 people are now out of work.
This is terrible news for all of the affected employees and we’re hoping all of them land on their feet with new jobs soon. In addition to releasing their financial report, Activision-Blizzard hosted a conference call with some interesting information.
Here’s the highlights for Activision’s fourth quarter 2018 results:Â
- $2.38 billion revue for the fourth quarter of 2018
- Revenue was up 7% over 2017, for a $7.5 billion total for 2018
- Activision: $2.738 billion revenue for 2018
- Blizzard: $2.266 billion revenue for 2018
- King: $2.09 billion revenue for 2018
- Operating income of $1.99 billion, over $1.3 billion in 2017
Here’s some highlights from the conference call:Â
- Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy has sold over 10 million copies
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 sold more than Black Ops 3
- 2019 revenue is expected to be down by 13%
- A new Call of Duty game will launch in the fourth quarter of 2019, with a campaign
It’s sad to see that despite this success, Activision-Blizzard is cutting so many jobs. We’ll see what 2019 brings for them. Activision is publishing Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Crash Team Racing, which will help. With that said, their forecast projecting revenue to be down says a lot about what to expect.
