Jason Schreier Profile picture
Aug 4, 2020 4 tweets 1 min read Read on X
NEWS: Blizzard staff put together an anonymous spreadsheet Friday to compare salaries and pay raises as part of an open revolt against low compensation. While CEO Bobby Kotick makes $40m/year, some Blizzard employees say they can't even make ends meet. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Image
The anonymous document, reviewed by Bloomberg News, contains dozens of employee salaries and pay bumps handed out following a compensation study done at Blizzard last year. Most of the raises are below 10%, significantly less than Blizzard employees said they expected
Blizzard has long had a reputation for underpaying its workers. Although some senior staff can make well over $100k/year, members of many departments have struggled. Lots of Blizzard staff have left for neighboring Riot, Amazon Game Studios, and tech companies for huge pay raises
To Blizzard employees both current and former who want to talk more about wage disparity and other ongoing issues at the company, you can always reach me confidentially at jasonschreier@protonmail.com

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More from @jasonschreier

Jan 18, 2023
Microsoft is laying off 10,000 people today, including in its gaming divisions such as Xbox and Bethesda. This mass layoff arrives exactly one year after Microsoft announced plans to purchase Activision Blizzard for $69 billion bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
The scale is not yet clear, but Bloomberg has so far confirmed job cuts at Bethesda Game Studios (Starfield) and 343 Interactive (Halo). A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on how many employees of the gaming division were laid off
Story on the Microsoft layoffs including the gaming division: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Read 7 tweets
Nov 23, 2022
Thanksgiving evening bombshell news. Nobody knows what the result of an antitrust lawsuit might be, but the landscape is different than it was when the DOJ lost its case against AT&T/Time Warner (and the NYT just ran a story last week about how that was the "worst merger ever")
Activision stock now trading at ~$73 after market, down from ~$76 today. Microsoft deal is for $95/share. Xbox fanboys went after me a few months ago when I pointed out Wall Street's skepticism of the deal closing, but as I've been saying all along, this is no sure thing
To clear up a couple of things:
- An FTC lawsuit does not mean the deal won't go through, it means a significant court battle
- An article offering a caveat that the lawsuit hasn't been filed yet does not contradict reporting that it's *likely* to happen
Read 4 tweets
Oct 18, 2022
Last weekend, Bayonetta's former voice actor called for fans to boycott the new game, saying she was offered just $4,000 to work on it. Her Twitter videos went viral and stoked a debate over voice actor wages. But the full story is much more complicated... bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Platinum offered Hellena Taylor between $3k and $4k per session for at least 5 sessions, according to two people familiar with the deal and documentation viewed by Bloomberg. In response, the people said, Taylor asked for a six-figure fee and residuals. Negotiations fell apart
Taylor denies this account. In an email to Bloomberg, she called that version of events an "absolute lie" and said that Platinum is “trying to save their ass and the game.”
Read 6 tweets
Sep 3, 2022
This, from a studio head, is crunch culture defined. Of course nobody is “forced” to work insane hours. But imagine the reduced bonuses and lack of promotion opportunities if you don’t? “You do it because you love it.” Weaponized passion. This is why people burn out of gaming
Such a weird coincidence how the guy bragging about how his team works 6-7 days a week for 12-15 hours a day because they love it also happens to be the guy who controls all their salaries, titles, and current employment status
If anyone working for Striking Distance Studios has thoughts on this tweet or a story to share, my DMs are open or you can reach me securely at jasonschreier@protonmail.com. I can keep you anonymous and walk you through how I protect my sources.
Read 4 tweets
Jul 27, 2022
Rockstar Games has spent the last four years overhauling its culture and working to become a kinder, more progressive company. But what does that actually look like? And what does it mean for the company's next game, Grand Theft Auto VI? My latest feature: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Rockstar's overhaul started in 2018, when staff called out its culture of crunch, bullying, and frat-house antics. The company has ousted managers accused of abuse and promised to cut down on overtime. One employee calls it “a boys’ club transformed into a real company.”
Rockstar removed transphobic jokes from the most recent re-release of GTAV and quietly canceled an online mode called Cops 'n' Crooks after the George Floyd protests. Grand Theft Auto VI will have a female Latina protagonist — the first playable woman in modern Rockstar history
Read 5 tweets
Mar 31, 2022
Activision Blizzard exec Brian Bulatao sent an email to staff this afternoon saying the company is "lifting our vaccine mandate for all U.S. employees" as they prepare to go back to the office on a regular basis. People who work there say they're... not thrilled!
The email also suggests that most Activision Blizzard employees will soon be asked to return to their offices on a regular basis, although I'm aware of several who have made arrangements to permanently work from their homes so the company is making exceptions
The Activision email says that the company is lifting the mandate because other companies are doing it too, "to align our site protocols with local guidance." But for a company that has already struggled to recruit and retain staff, this move may have repercussions
Read 6 tweets

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