Activision Moving Away From Licensed Games

Activision isn’t a company that you’d expect layoffs from. The company is easily one, if not the, biggest publisher in the world, bringing in ridiculous amounts of money with the Call of Duty franchise alone. It’s a wonder then why such a profitable company would need to layoff 30 employees, until you hear why they were let go. Activision has announced that they plan to move away from publishing licensed games.

So, it’s not only gamers who realise that most of these titles usually end up being a pile of…well. Activision has published titles such as 007 Legends, The Amazing Spider-Man, Transformers and more over the past few years, with most of these bordering on mediocre and downright terrible. Activison broke the news in the a press release, saying that the company is going to begin distancing itself from all licensed titles.

“Like any successful business, Activision Publishing consistently works to align its costs with its revenues – this is an on-going process. In 2013, we expect to release fewer games based on license properties and as a result are realigning our structure to better reflect the market opportunities and our slate. Approximately, 30 full-time employees have been impacted globally, which represents approximately one half of one percent of Activision Blizzard’s employee population. We are offering those employees who are impacted outplacement counseling services.”

That’s not to say that licensed games are now dead, it’s just that the biggest publisher in the world doesn’t seem to think they’re worth the effort anymore. Take that as you will.