End for the gaming giant
Activision Blizzard has received more media attention this year. Mainly due to the huge deal and takeover by developer giant Microsoft earlier this year. Now, however, another piece of news has shaken Germany. For Activision Blizzard, the time in the Federal Republic ends. All seats are already closed.
In the last week, the developer and publisher’s employees went to their workplaces for the last time. It is now officially known that the headquarters of “Activision Blizzard Germany GmbH” in Munich has finally closed. The company already finished the actual work in Germany in March of this year. The reason for this is the digital development, because the games are now being distributed primarily in the digital context.
The official statement was as follows: “With the decline in physical sales and the expected shift to a digital-only store, a local, country-centric retail model no longer fits the business needs.”
decline in sales
If you look at the financial figures from 2018, you can still see local sales of 55 million euros, which fell back by 33% to 35 million euros in 2020. A subsequent local closure was already to be expected at this point.
Alternatively, the company Activision Blizzard is now building a central office in London for all European businesses, from which publishing for the German market is to be taken over in the future. With the local closures, however, there is no question that German-language games will continue to be developed.
With the closure, 19 employees lost their jobs. With this step, the company sees a necessary leap forward and the adjustment and optimization of digital sales. By the end of the first half of 2023, the company should then have completely disappeared from Germany.