Activision Blizzard staff layoffs may nix WoW mobile
by Natalie Mootz 
Jul 30th 2008 at 8:00PM
Previously we reported that a mobile version of WoW was being seriously considered at Blizzard. However, with the finalization of the Activision Blizzard merger, the odds of being able to play WoW on your iPhone just got a lot lower. The newly-merged company is laying off 53 employees in the Issaquah, Washington area by September 27, 2008. Additionally, they are evaluating whether they will keep Vivendi Games Mobile, an arm of the company which develops games for the various mobile markets, like phones. If Activision Blizzard does decide to divest themselves of VGM, you can probalby kiss your hopes for WoW mobile goodbye since the synergy and cost-effectiveness of having the mobile developers under the same roof will disappear. I'm not saying that the WoW developers aren't beyond creating their own mobile infrastructure, or even paying higher prices for it to an external company, but it will be much less likely if they don't have the luxury of teaming with folks who all report up the through same corporate food chain. Among the other companies which Activision Blizzard says are eligible for the chopping block are Sierra Online, Massive Entertainment and Swordfish Studios, with staffing "realignments" likely at Radical Entertainment and High Moon Studios -- the loss of any of which will likely have no effect on WoW development, but may affect other games. Activision has announced that a few highly-anticipated titles are on the bubble, including Ghostusters and Double Fine's Brutal Legend among others. I sure hope they don't mess with Double Fine, since I am a huge Tim Schafer fan, but the upside is that it looks like the new company will have an even stronger focus on keeping their cash cow, WoW, healthy and grazing in the pasture for a long while to come.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
xtrjmonaco Jul 30th 2008 8:17PM
Blizzard has said time and time again that everything will continue like normal with the merger. I doubt that these layoffs effect any of Blizzard's plans.
PimpyMicPimp Jul 31st 2008 4:42AM
You really should believe everything a company tells you. They have your best interests in mind at all times.
Aaron Jul 30th 2008 8:17PM
I appreciate the effort, but layoffs don't have upsides unless you're in management. This layoffs disturb me. Why not just send them elsewhere within the company? Then perhaps the upside you suggested would be true.
Kalis Jul 30th 2008 9:17PM
They're Vivendi lay-offs, not Blizzard's.
Kalis Jul 30th 2008 9:15PM
As a former VG employee, I gotta say, to be fair, these lay-offs will only effect the former Vivendi Games, rather than Blizzard itself. Blizzard does their thing in-house.
Portable WoW was never going to be under Vivendi Mobile, it would have been under Blizzard.
Gazmik Fizzwidget Jul 30th 2008 9:25PM
If you're specifically talking iPhone...
Any kind of WoW "lite" client for for that platform would probably have more in common with the existing Mac client than with anything produced by an existing "mobile" games studio -- at least in developer skills / experience, if not actually in code. Also, Blizzard has long had an "if you want something done right, do it yourself" philosophy regarding its core properties... I don't see them farming a project like this out to another studio that just happens to ultimately report to the same shareholders.
IMHO, the whole Activision merger shuffle will have no effect on Blizzard's plans for an iPhone WoW... if such plans even exist.
As for a more generic "mobile" WoW, who knows... I'd still put my money on Blizzard doing it themselves if they do it at all.
SaintStryfe Jul 30th 2008 10:25PM
I doubt there would ever be a WoW iPhone client. I have an iPhone, and as great as the hardware is, it's a 400mhz processor. I would love Some sort of WoW program - maybe an AH viewer, friend list, a way to view the WoW official forums easier via iPhone, or a wow-themed mini game pack that can do something in game (maybe games on the phone could be dalies for a character). But a full client? No.
jbodar Jul 30th 2008 11:26PM
I think even just a talent planner would be sweet. Just something to do while wasting time. Of course it would just make me sadder I don't have an iPhone.
Eric Jul 31st 2008 1:26PM
Blizzard is in CA not WA
deviationer Jul 30th 2008 11:45PM
there has never been a WoW Mobile. Same with there has never been a WoW console port. If it's not a confirmed thing blizzard is doing, it's fake.
zappo Jul 31st 2008 8:21AM
And what did these 50+ people do? It was already well known that there were going to be a lot of people laid off in sales. I wouldn't be surprised if marketing also got cut somewhat. I have my doubts that many of these were developers working on core projects.
Comis Jul 31st 2008 10:41AM
Blizzard's HQ (and subsequently, its dev team) is in Irvine, CA. These VG guys from Nowheresville, Washington will have absolutely no affect on Blizzard or their development plans.
Woshiernog Jul 31st 2008 12:23PM
The only reason that I can see laying people off would be so a company doesn't lose money. Not if a certain company just aquired Blizzard, I'm pretty sure they're not having money troubles.
Brian Jul 31st 2008 12:39PM
Please quit talking out of your butt about the merger and any job losses. The job losses are not coming from Blizzard, Vivendi owned a number of companies and some of them are getting the chop. Its perfectly normal when new management take over a product or company they look to how to streamline costs and maxmise benefits and yes remove dead wood.
Nobody has ever promised a mobile WoW. So we haven't 'lost' anything. Nor have we been 'betrayed' or 'lied to'. The insinuations of this article are utter rubbish. OMG Activision sacked a bunch of people! Other than the devs. I can think of about half a dozen 'key' Blizzard employees who I can name and feel are important to the company, the rest I haven't a clue about. And there are probably hundreds of them.
Quit pretending there is something to panic about. I'll worry when they start shutting down servers not when they are beta testing an expansion that will lead to more growth and money for the company.
They wouldn't have announced Diablo III if they were strapped for cash.
Natalie Mootz Jul 31st 2008 2:51PM
Brian, I am not "talking out of my butt." Please check the source links and they all go back to quotes from Activision Blizzard. Thanks for being such a thoughtful commenter.
Brian Jul 31st 2008 3:06PM
Well I disagree, the implication and the screenshots seem to suggest being able to play wow on a mobile phone/iPhone which isn't what Blizzard have talked about, they've talked about maybe having a chat interface.
What I was moaning about was all the fuss about Activision Blizzard laying off some people from another company then theorising they might sack some people who might work on a mobile app for WoW even given the fact that Blizzard have been trying to recruit an in house mobile developer for ages.
I'm sorry if it seemed like a personal attack but your article read as sensationalism for the sake of it. I can't see how the fact that Activision have sacked a bunch of people from a company that isn't Blizzard will have any effect on Blizzard's plans. Activision couldn't afford to buy Blizzard outright that's why they had the merger, if they could walk all over Blizzard their name wouldn't be part of the company name.
And from my personal side. I am a manger in an office, we chop and change staff all the time depending on where we need it, it doesn't mean my department is shutting down, just that we have come up with a more efficient way to do things. So yes I do think your talk about management decisions is at best ill informed.
Natalie Mootz Jul 31st 2008 3:38PM
Speculation (which is what WoW Insider does all over the place, not just by me, and which is practically mandated by our editors) is not the same is "ill informed." And, I'm sorry but "talking out of your butt" sounds like a personal attack. As far as my "corporate cred" goes, I've worked for Boeing, the Los Angeles Times, Toshiba, Citibank, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and now AOL in the form of this blog. Ever hear of those companies? In half those jobs I was in a managerial function. I think my credentials in this area are impeccable. Besides which, this is just a blog, remember. If you want journalism, you shouldn't be looking here.
Brian Jul 31st 2008 5:21PM
Well it wasn't my intention to be a 'troll' so fair enough.
Eric Jul 31st 2008 1:37PM
When did Blizz, who firmly said no WoW on consoles, go and decide that a moblie WoW would be even better?