After today's megaton news of almost 2,000 job losses over at Team Xbox, we have even more disruption amongst the ranks. Long-time Blizzard president and ex-Microsoft executive Mike Ybarra has announced his departure from the studio - and with it the cancellation of Blizzard's in-development survival game.
Ybarra has taken to Twitter to post a heartfelt message about his departure - focusing intently on the swathe of other job losses happening at the Overwatch developer. You can read through his full statement down below.
"I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day and my energy and support will be focused on all those amazing individuals impacted – this is in no way a reflection on your amazing work. If there’s anything I can help with, connections, recommendations, etc., DM me."
"To the Blizzard community: I also want to let you all know today is my last day at Blizzard. Leading Blizzard through an incredible time and being part of the team, shaping it for the future ahead, was an absolute honor. Having already spent 20+ years at Microsoft and with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard behind us, it’s time for me to (once again) become Blizzard’s biggest fan from the outside."
"To the incredible teams at Blizzard - thank you. Words can’t express how I feel about all of you. You are amazing. Continue to do incredible things and always keep Blizzard blue and the player at the forefront of every decision."
"To all of those impacted today - I am always available to you and understand how challenging today’s news is. My heart is with each one of you."
As shared by The Verge, Xbox's Matt Booty has also commented on this huge Blizzard move. The Xbox exec had this to say on Ybarra's decision:
"As many of you know, Mike previously spent more than 20 years at Microsoft. Now that he has seen the acquisition through as Blizzard’s president, he has decided to leave the company,"
The shakeup at Blizzard has resulted in a game cancellation — which Booty also commented on — stating that Microsoft is "shifting some of the people working on it to one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development".
Where things go from here is anyone's guess, but clearly, Microsoft has a new vision for Blizzard - and indeed all of Xbox's recently acquired teams. Let's hope we see some of these 'promising new projects' come to Xbox one day in the future.