esports live events are latest casualty in Activision's restructuring

Activision-Blizzard is firing dozens of employees as it pivots away from live-based esports events in the Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues, sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.

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Activision made more money in 2020 than it's ever made before, raking in $8 billion in revenues (and over $2 billion in profits). That hasn't stopped the company from continually firing employees and chasing digital revenues. Activision-Blizzard plans to fire 50 employees across multiple divisions, including its esports live events teams and even developers at King, the maker of the mega-popular Candy Crush games.

"Players are increasingly choosing to connect with our games digitally and the e-sports team, much like traditional sports, entertainment, and broadcasting industries, has had to adapt its business due to the impact the pandemic has had on live events," a rep told Bloomberg.

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Read Also:Call of Duty earnings jump by 200%, helps Activision earn $3.9 billion

Schreier notes that fired employees are receiving 90-days severance pay, a full year of healthcare, and a $200 Battle.net gift card.

The latest news sees the company further chasing digital dominance, using the restructured foundation of its new four-part plan to "adapt" to a post-COVID-19 market. This market has tremendously benefited Activision-Blizzard as more consumers stay indoors and spend billions on microtransactions and full games. Activision is hungry for more, and is learning new methods to chomp away at new record earnings.