It appears Activision Blizzard’s hiring spree at Call of Duty: WWII developer Sledgehammer Games is just one part of the company’s overall ambition to increase its development headcount.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said on Twitter that the company plans to hire more than 2,000 people in the next year. “Over the next year, Activision Blizzard is aiming to hire over 2,000 employees so that our incredibly talented teams can continue making epic entertainment,” Kotick said.
The executive did not provide a breakdown of hiring plans by division, however. Activision Blizzard operates Activision (Call of Duty, Tony Hawk), Blizzard (WoW, Diablo, Overwatch), and King (Candy Crush).
It takes heroes to make heroes. Over the next year, Activision Blizzard is aiming to hire over 2,000 employees so that our incredibly talented teams can continue making epic entertainment. Now more than ever, we know our global community needs jobs – and we are proud to help. pic.twitter.com/NLsWG9FDPi
— Bobby Kotick (@BobbyKotick) May 7, 2020
In February 2019, Activision Blizzard announced a round of layoffs that impacted around 800 people across its divisions, including Activision, Blizzard, and King. At the same time as it announced the layoffs, Activision Blizzard stated that it was planning to “increase development investment” on its biggest franchises. To that end, the company announced that the number of developers working on Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Overwatch, Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Diablo in aggregate would increase by around 20 percent in 2019. Now, it appears Activision Blizzard is ramping up even further.
The layoffs were said to impact non-development and administrative positions instead of game development jobs for the most part. The company’s headcount reportedly stood at 10,000 before the layoffs, dropping to around 9,200 after the layoffs. With 2,000 more positions being added in the next year, Activision Blizzard’s total headcount will climb above 11,000.
Sledgehammer Games, the developer of Call of Duty: WWII and co-developer on Call of Duty: Warzone, recently announced it was looking to add 100 positions across its studios in California and Australia. Unlike in the past, the studio is now working on multiple games at the same time.
In other Activision news, the company has announced remasters of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, which are due for release in September.
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