Navigating a dangerous turning point - Anonymous employee Blizzard Entertainment Employee Review

3.0
Feb 19, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Blizzard is in a period of pretty remarkable success with Overwatch and some of its mainstays like World of Warcraft. The company is growing rapidly and there are lots of opportunities. The culture, though it is shifting, is still far better than most companies. You'll work alongside people, for the most part, that truly care about their work and the products the company makes.

Cons

Blizzard no longer knows what it wants to be, largely due to a huge influx of new leaders and a desire to be more and more profitable. Unfortunately, the company's growing far closer to "profit above all else" than I ever thought it would. The marketing department is huge now, with tons of new people director level and above, and they're all pushing the company to sell, sell, sell. People who want to do the right thing for fans are looked down upon as not thinking strategically. Game development is more and more driven by the business folks, where bigger questions are often "how can we build something to use in a deal with Twitch" than it is "how do we make this fun". Blizzard also expends enormous resources into esports for all of its games, and no one can tell you why, or what value it is bringing to Blizzard. Luckily, while Mike Morhaime still leads the company, I do believe it will still remain committed to making quality games. However, if he ever retires, most of the other leaders who care about making good games are gone, and I think we'll see a massive shift in how the company values good gameplay experiences. While these elements are well known and stated often on glassdoor, Blizzard also pays much less than most companies, and the work life balance is often really rough. Crunch isn't as bad as some other game companies, but you'll still get weird looks if you leave the office before 7pm.

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5.0
Jun 2, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Really great people, best and kindest in the business

Cons

Compensation is on lower side

2.0
Mar 23, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

- Depending on the team, you get to work with some great people. - Company events are fun and make you temporarily forget that you're still in a corporate environment. - You're near the games being released.

Cons

On the surface, the company talks a big game about being structured and performance-driven. In reality, it feels pretty chaotic once you’re actually in it. Expectations aren’t clearly defined, and what “success” looks like seems to shift depending on the week or who you’re talking to. You end up spending more time managing optics and trying to stay aligned with moving targets than actually doing solid engineering work. What makes it worse is how management handles team dynamics. Toxic behavior doesn’t really get addressed — if anything, it sometimes feels like it’s enabled. Feedback can feel very one-sided, and when you raise concerns, they’re not always taken seriously or represented fairly. There are definitely moments where the narrative about your performance doesn’t match the reality of what you’re actually doing day to day, which slowly kills trust. At a minimum, leadership needs to get better at clear communication, setting stable and objective expectations, and actually supporting both engineers and managers. Without that, even strong teams start to feel dysfunctional. Compensation doesn’t make up for it either. It often feels like decisions are driven by cost-cutting rather than recognizing real impact, which makes the whole environment feel more transactional than motivating. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this place in its current state, especially if you’re an experienced professional looking for a stable, well-run role.

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