Pros
- You'll work alongside industry veterans of an extremely high caliber, on meaningful projects that will be good for developing your skills. - Campus is full of awesome statues, artwork, and other artifacts from Blizzard's long history. There are some really cool places like the library, and dogs are welcome. Fun on-campus events for game launches etc. - Campus cafeteria is subsidised to a pretty good level (though not entirely free), we also have an on-site Starbucks serving custom drinks. - Even after all the company has gone through in the last few years I still felt proud saying that I worked for Blizzard, and it was always very rewarding to be able to show friends and family around the place, give out free WoW time etc. - Some nice small perks since the Microsoft takeover; free Xbox Game Pass, discounts on MS products (both physical and digital), access to the MS employee merchandise store. - 401k match is solid, and health benefits are generous. You get a free collector's edition of every new game, and swag giveaways are not infrequent. - Excellent work/life balance. My manager was happy to let me work remotely for short stretches from my home country when I was visiting family.
Cons
- I joined just before the sexual harassment scandal broke in 2021, and since then it felt like a slow drip of one bad news story after the other until the merger was announced. Having worked so long and hard to get to this company it was extremely demoralising. - You're hardly on poverty wages at Blizzard, but compensation and other perks clearly drag behind the competition, and for a company of this prominence that's simply not good enough. - Hopes that the Microsoft merger would bring more perks and better pay seem to have been misplaced. Little seemed to change for us since the merger was finalised. - Our team was halved overnight in the most recent round of layoffs. This came as a shock as we had had no indication of the game doing poorly or that there was a reason that measures would have to be taken imminently. One moment things seemed okay and the next moment I didn't have a job. - All pros I mentioned about the Irvine HQ are still relevant, however it's clear that the office space is quite old and many facilities really need a facelift (the gym and locker rooms in particular). Seoul and Taipei offices seem newer and a lot more modern, it almost looks more appealing to work there than in HQ. - Orange County can be a difficult place to live in unless the suburban sprawl is something you're happy with.