Despite recent layoffs, Blizzard Entertainment now hires roles for "unannounced projects"

Blizzard Entertainment is now recruiting for positions related to “unannounced projects,” even after recent reports about the layoff of more than 1,900 employees in the Microsoft Gaming division.

The video game publisher, which is a subsidiary of the Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard, is now hiring for leadership and technical roles, as well as creative experts, gameplay-related positions, and several principal and senior design roles.

According to the job listings on the company’s career site, these positions are opened across Blizzard’s offices in Barcelona (Spain), Irvine (California, the USA), and London (England). Some positions were even posted as early as mid-September 2024, but the company’s recent post on LinkedIn suggests that they’re still hiring.

Blizzard is home to popular franchises like Diablo, Hearthstone, Overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm. Its parent company, Activision Blizzard, as well as Microsoft’s Xbox division, cut off around 1,900 jobs back in January, representing about 8% of the total gaming workforce.

“As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1,900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer said at that time.

Blizzard president Mike Ybarra and Chief Design Officer Allen Adham were also leaving, with Ybarra’s departure following his leadership during the acquisition.

Earlier in June, World of Warcraft devs launched one of the largest unions in the video game industry, despite fears of retaliation from past union-busting efforts under Activision Blizzard. Around 500 employees joined the collective effort as the industry faces layoffs and AI challenges.