Blizzard announces staff reductions, 90% not related to game development

Blizzard has announced it has "conducted a review of its business based on current organizational needs" and because of the findings it will conduct a "global reduction in workforce" of approximately 600 employees.

The company anticipates approximately 90% of the affected employees will come from departments not related to game development and noted in the announcement The World of Warcraft development team "will not be impacted."

"Constant evaluation of teams and processes is necessary for the long-term health of any business," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder. "Over the last several years, we've grown our organization tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community.

"However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company. Knowing that, it still does not make letting go of some of our team members any easier. We're grateful to have had the opportunity to work with the people impacted by today's announcement, we're proud of the contributions they made here at Blizzard, and we wish them well as they move forward."

Best of luck to all affected.