It looks like Activision is planning to ‘triple’ its Call of Duty developers

Activision Blizzard plans to hire 2000 new development staff over the next two years and triple the size of certain teams, most likely those working on Call of Duty.

The target was shared by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick during a conference call yesterday to discuss the publisher’s Q1 2021 earnings.

“From the start of 2020 through the end of next year, we intend to hire more than 2000 developers,” Kotick said.

“We plan to triple the size of certain franchise teams compared to those team sizes in 2019 and we have aggressive hiring plans around the world, including new studios or major expansion in Poland, China, Australia, and Canada.

“And, as our shareholders expect, we remain laser focused on finding and retaining the best talent in the industry and always aligning performance and reward.”

The earnings call revealed that Activision Blizzard made revenue of $2.28 billion in the first quarter of 2021, which was higher than the $2.02 billion the company had predicted.

The company’s Activision segment reported revenue growth of 72% year on year, “driven by Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War and Warzone in-game revenues, strong premium sales and Call of Duty Mobile“. Meanwhile, the Blizzard and King segments reported growth of 7% and 22% respectively.

Last week Crash Bandicoot 4 studio Toys For Bob confirmed it would be supporting the development of Call of Duty: Warzone, which led to one former contract character designer claiming that they had left the studio, along with “everyone” they had worked alongside at Toys For Bob.

Further reading

1

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick agrees to halve salary, but could yet earn more

Kotick will remain in charge at the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft firm until March 2023

Activision has since denied claims that Toys For Bob has suffered layoffs, and said it will continue to support Crash Bandicoot alongside its new role on Call of Duty.

Kotick agreed last week to halve his salary as part of his latest employment contract, but the executive could earn more via long-term equity incentive awards.