Activision Blizzard Lays Off 15 During Restructuring

Video games leviathan Activision Blizzard has rearranged itself into four units, the Los Angeles Times reports, including the already-known dedicated Call of Duty division.

One new unit is dedicated to the development of Activision's licensed titles, such as the newly-revealed Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and its many movie games, while another handles all Activision-owned properties, including Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk series but not StarCraft developer Blizzard's own properties or Call of Duty.

Activision star performers Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

"We realigned our structure to better reflect our slate and marketing opportunities and direct our resources against the largest most profitable business segments," Activision spokesperson Maryanne Lataif told the newspaper, confirming that fifteen were laid off.

The previously-announced Call of Duty division has plans to "expand the Call of Duty brand with the same focus seen in [Blizzard]," looking at "new geographies, new genres and with new digital business models." Blizzard will remain its own division.

The reshuffle also sees Activision publishing head Mike Griffith bumped up to vice chairman of Activision Blizzard and the newly-created role of chief operations officer filled by chief financial officer Thomas Tippl.

"This is an important change as it will allow me, with Thomas, to become more deeply involved in areas of the business where I believe we can capture great potential and opportunity," wrote CEO Bobby Kotick in an internal announcement.

Activision revealed earlier this month that the Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft franchises accounted for 68% of its calendar year 2009 revenue.