Founded in July 2008 through a merger of Activision, Inc. and Vivendi Games, Activision Blizzard signed a 10-year lease for both buildings back in 2010 and the company has decided with the expiration of this lease to move elsewhere. Home to franchises such as World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Overwatch, Activision Blizzard has seen multiple changes over the course of the past year including a recent layoff of about 190 employees.
RELATED: Activision Blizzard Investors Upset Over CEO Payout Amid Layoffs
Activision had been based at a 145,060-square-foot building while Treyarch was located at a roughly 70,000-square-foot office space both on Ocean Park Boulevard. Activision Blizzard has been restructuring and adjusting as of late, shutting down offices in Europe and, back in October, announcing plans to hire 2,000 people to meet production needs. According to Dot Esports, the company has expressed to employees that it will not be returning to an office until September 1st of this year.
Though the pandemic has been around for over a year, companies are continuing to learn how best to adjust, what their priorities should be and what doesn’t make sense at this time. This is the most likely explanation for Activision Blizzard’s decision not to pick up another lease at the same location. With restrictions still in place across the United States and especially in California, having employees work from home might make the most sense for the company’s bottom-line.
Though the moves Activision Blizzard have made over the past year, from the layoffs earlier in March to this move from their long-time home, may seem erratic but it would appear the company is trying to be cautious. Ideally these changes focus on pieces that do not relate to development and maintenance of their games. While not not having the stability their former home-base granted feels off, committing to a long-term lease with this much uncertainty in the air makes the most sense.
The risk here is that the move is an indication of a larger instability within the video game giant. Looked at individually, the move doesn’t seem to be worthy of too much notice but its timing with layoffs earlier in the month might spook stockholders of the publicly-traded company. Making the wrong moves can lead to larger problems and though moving office is most likely not going to have a lasting effect, it is indicative of a company looking for change.
MORE: Activision Remasters That Could Come in 2021
Source: Jason Schreier, Dot Esports
