[The Verge] Blizzard President Mike Ybarra Is Departing Microsoft, Unannounced Survival Game Has Been Cancelled
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
- News Microsoft Activision/Blizzard
Wtf is going on at Microsoft? Laying off 1900 people and also canceling Blizzard's survival game?
Was not a fan of Ybarra. From my understanding he didn't allow folks to work from home, leading to large exodus of talent from Blizzard.
Sad to hear about the survival game tho.
"Ybarra allegedly made a bizarre comparison to his and other executives' pay packages to those of rank-and-file employees, appeared to downplay the value of QA and customer service roles at the studio, and defended the company's decision to slash annual profit-sharing bonuses," GameDeveloper.com reports. "If you think that executives are making a lot of money and you aren't, you're living in a myth," he told workers. As GD notes, some Irvine QA make as little as $22 an hour ($45,000 annually), so it's unclear why Ybarra would suggest otherwise because we're quite certain he's not making merely $45,000 a year.
Moreover, some current Blizzard employees were hired as remote employees and live offsite, and Blizzard's long-talked-about poor wages, coupled with a reduction in the bonus that is supposed to buffer those wages, won't pay for relocation to or cost-of-living in the expensive Irvine location. Blizzard workers at the meeting apparently pointed out that the move will result in talent losses that have already been ongoing and well-documented for the last several years, which Ybarra apparently dismissed by suggesting that some roles aren't long-term roles anyway and that people need to do what will make them happy, i.e., if you don't like to work in-office, you should leave.
Sad to hear about the survival game tho.
"Ybarra allegedly made a bizarre comparison to his and other executives' pay packages to those of rank-and-file employees, appeared to downplay the value of QA and customer service roles at the studio, and defended the company's decision to slash annual profit-sharing bonuses," GameDeveloper.com reports. "If you think that executives are making a lot of money and you aren't, you're living in a myth," he told workers. As GD notes, some Irvine QA make as little as $22 an hour ($45,000 annually), so it's unclear why Ybarra would suggest otherwise because we're quite certain he's not making merely $45,000 a year.
Moreover, some current Blizzard employees were hired as remote employees and live offsite, and Blizzard's long-talked-about poor wages, coupled with a reduction in the bonus that is supposed to buffer those wages, won't pay for relocation to or cost-of-living in the expensive Irvine location. Blizzard workers at the meeting apparently pointed out that the move will result in talent losses that have already been ongoing and well-documented for the last several years, which Ybarra apparently dismissed by suggesting that some roles aren't long-term roles anyway and that people need to do what will make them happy, i.e., if you don't like to work in-office, you should leave.
Wait... Jez Corden said the game was like 90% complete and would be announced soon? what the hell happened?
What shit news. I hope both end up in good places.
Edit: I stand corrected, it seems like Ybarra was not a good guy to work under.
Last edited:
I'm not sure about their structure, but he was President for 2 years.
Wtf? We better get some insider info, cancelling that project makes no sense. Everything we heard the development was going very well.
How unimpressive was that game that they'd cancel it this close to being done and given how popular that genre is right now? MS doing some wonky shit.
Uhhh I would have thought he moved to that role when the Activision merged was finished, a few months ago. Maybe it was something else.
WTF. The only thing I've been interested in from Blizzard in years.
AAA studios really need to take a crack at this genre.
AAA studios really need to take a crack at this genre.
Ghastly shit. We seriously need to reckon with the fact that the industry is collapsing as we speak.
Don't waste time buying Jez's shit. He's about as reliable a "scooper" as I am.
Yeah he's was at Blizzard before the merge with MS.
I just don't think he wants to work for MS tbh.
Ugh... dude kind of seemed like a piece of shit.
Blizzard Employee Meeting With Mike Ybarra Reportedly Lowered Morale Over Remote Work, Pay | MMORPG.com
Blizzard Meeting Reportedly Leaves Developers Frustrated (gamerant.com)
Blizzard workers are furious after a 'demoralizing' meeting with their boss - Polygon
(2) Blizzard pushing to end remote work (Ybarra involved in decision) | ResetEra (This is an era thread - I would recommend people read through it).
I agree with this.
Him being gone is good for Blizzard as a whole. Dude was trash.
Mike Ybarra sucks so he leaving is good, but that's basically the SINGLE thing good thing about all this shit.
No he was not. He fucking sucks.