Blizzard Entertainment Inc. may cut as much as 180 jobs at its Irvine headquarters as part of a large-scale restructuring initiated by Santa Monica parent Activision Blizzard Inc.
Activision Blizzard told analysts today after the close of trading it will cut 8% of employment, or about 800 jobs, across all of its businesses, including Blizzard, Activision, King, and some of its studios. The firm has 9,800 employees company wide, according to its 2017 annual report.
“We need to reorganize some of our non-development teams,” President J. Allen Brack wrote in a blogpost today. “As a result, we will be reducing the number of non-development positions in North America and anticipate a related process in our regional offices over the coming months.”
Brack in October replaced longtime president and cofounder Michael Morhaime in the top role.
The Blizzard Entertainment unit entered the year with about 4,000 jobs, which includes 2,000 employees at its Spectrum headquarters. An 8% job cut could mean about 180 local job cuts.
The company didn’t immediately respond to Business Journal inquiries.
The news came in an analyst call after Activision Blizzard announced record revenue of $7.5 billion last year and record adjusted profits of $2.72 per share.
Its shares rose 2.8% in afterhours trading to $42.85 and a $31.8 billion market cap.