As part of Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs, which have already claimed multiple in-development projects including Perfect Dark, Everwild, and an unannounced MMO from the makers of Elder Scrolls Online, Activision Blizzard is effectively ending development on Warcraft Rumble, a mobile tower defense game that launched in 2023 after a lengthy development period.
Rumble, Blizzard just announced publicly and earlier today in an email to staff, will no longer receive any new content.
“The emails from Phil [Spencer] and Matt [Booty] today have laid out workforce changes underway across Microsoft Gaming, including Blizzard,” Blizzard president Johanna Faries wrote in an email to staff viewed by Aftermath. “As part of these changes, we made the difficult decision to shift to a scaled down, live ops-only phase of development for Warcraft Rumble, similar to our current approach with games like StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm.”
The game, Faries said, began life nine years ago, but ultimately, after its launch in 2023, “team leaders recognized that early development and design ambitions were not meeting expectations in terms of audience engagement and retention.”
“Since launch, Rumble has struggled to achieve the scale necessary to sustain its current form for the long-term, despite very good and hard work by everyone on the team and supporting the game,” Faries wrote.
She went on to say that “several” Rumble team members have moved to new roles within Blizzard, but others will be let go. While Faries did not disclose an exact number, Activision Blizzard employees who were granted anonymity on the basis that they were not authorized to speak publicly said the number could be as high as 100. Many employees affected by today’s layoffs, they said, found out initially via Slack deactivations. Other Blizzard departments impacted, according to Faries' email, include customer service and marketing. Other teams, like those working on various Overwatch features – dealt a devastating blow during Microsoft's early-2024 mass layoffs – appear to be safe this time around.
Rumble was part of a burgeoning Blizzard initiative to conquer the mobile market following the success of Hearthstone, which Bloomberg reported in 2022 played a role in Microsoft's decision to purchase Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. Another Blizzard mobile game would have seen the company do its best Pokémon Go impression, but that project was canceled before it ever saw the light of day.
"Organizational changes like this can be difficult to navigate and our ability to adapt, stay focused, and weather storms is a testament to the strength and resilience of our teams,” wrote Faries. “I want to recognize the significant and meaningful progress we are making on many fronts. Today's news does not diminish the hard work and dedication of talented individuals, nor does it take away from the collective brilliance of so many. Together, we will continue to build towards a bright and creatively ambitious future for players the world over."
