Blizzard Entertainment Reviews

Pros

-The people that work here love this place and are truly passionate about what they do. -Great work-life balance. -There have been a lot of new people hired over the last 2 years and they seem very focused on making Blizzard inclusive and a great place to work again. -Good work benefits including medical, dental, vision, 401k matching, etc. -Recently relaunched BlizzU, a program that provides plenty of opportunities to learn and grow your career. -The Irvine campus is one of the coolest offices I've ever seen. -It seems like leadership tries to be as transparent as possible, even if it leads to mixed or negative results.

Cons

-Your annual bonus is more dependent on how the company is doing, not necessarily reflective of how well you've done your job. -No longer a full-time remote company for most, they are trying to get everyone back in the office for a hybrid work schedule. -Not the most competitive in the industry in terms of base pay.

Pros

Amazing like wow wow wow so cool2

Cons

Not amazing dude like omg it's not good

Pros

Great company to work at

Cons

No cons to this company

Pros

Active participant Less work time space

Cons

Too repeated No trans no holiday

Pros

Decent benefits, great people who are passionate about what they do. A work environment that is trending better and better as they work to improve. Fun projects. Decent pay. Not the best, but not the worst. A place to dig in and stay if you are able to. Educational opportunities to learn and grow. Blizzard has an energy that makes you want to make cool stuff and it feels like working with friends rather than coworkers. Lots of fun swag like shirts, games, Christmas gifts, etc.

Cons

Promotions are hard to get. Raises are small but usually happen each year. Review structure is imposed by Activision and is a disgrace. Blizzard can be penny wise and pound foolish and often let talent go rather than keeping them well paid and happy. Talent attrition is likely one of the biggest issues. A mountain of bureaucracy exists making it difficult to change the direction of the ship. That goes from the top to the bottom.

Pros

Passionate Employees who take pride in their work

Cons

Operates like a company that's broke. Pays the minmum possible, leading to a lot of improvisation and workarounds to get good outcomes. Good for shareholders, not so much for employees

Pros

I enjoy exceptional employee benefits. The company provides a comprehensive range of perks, including health insurance, paid vacation, employee discounts, free games, opportunities for promotion, and education and training programs. Furthermore, Blizzard creates a fantastic work environment that fosters creativity, freedom, and collaboration, allowing each individual to fully utilize their talents.

Cons

One issue is the work-life balance. Due to the fast-paced nature of the gaming industry, there are times when employees are required to work long hours or even weekends. While the company does provide some compensatory time off, it can still be difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance during certain periods.

Pros

The workforce has incredible skill and drive to make the best games they can. Some individual departments/teams have compassionate leadership with enough clout to fight for their employees.

Cons

Managers: Blizzard still promotes many individual contributors to management positions, but neglects people-management training in favor of project management. Some managers are capable, compassionate advocates for their reports; others are ineffective at best or downright inept. Retention: Management relies on a revolving door of starry-eyed applicants while underpaying and disrespecting current employees. Salaries are industry average at best and promotions & bonuses are anemic, so the most skilled employees are constantly leaving for studios willing to pay their worth. Since 2019, the ABK executive team has gaslighted middle management and straight-up ignored employee concerns over - harassment: even after multiple lawsuits, reporting harassment is at best a toss-up on whether accuser, accused, or no one will be punished. - pay: Blizzard claims "industry competitive" but companies with similar name recognition and reach pay substantially more. Stack ranking and other logistical excuses to rate employees below their actual performance. - advancement: 10% annual promotion budget. No remote work. If you're too senior to easily replace you might be grudgingly granted "long term remote," which won't fly if you're trying to get a mortgage loan in another state. The policy is so vaguely defined, it seems as though every employee has read a different version of it - and it's impossible to place responsibility when you get denied. And because they don't want to provide remote arrangements, they have made no effort to equalize opportunity for local vs remote workers. "HR protects the company" has rarely been more true than at Blizzard/ABK. My dealings with ABK HR were collectively over a year of the most hostile, damaging work environment I've endured in over a decade in the industry.

Pros

Great teammates making great games.

Cons

Executive leadership from Blizzard up to ABK are untrustworthy and exploitative. The constant string of controversies and self-owns are exhausting. Workers have almost no say in decisions that directly affect them.

Pros

- Kind and passionate coworkers - Leadership on my direct team seems to genuinely care - My career and contributions feel valued and worth investing in - Direct impact to the project

Cons

- The bad press and public sentiment is expectedly draining - Inconsistencies with culture and leadership experience across the company - Pay in comparison to other AAA studios