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WoW producer blames Blizzard for “losing amazing talent”

A World of Warcraft game producer claims that Blizzard, and WoW specifically, is undergoing a staffing "crisis" that will potentially impact its games.

WoW producer blames Blizzard for "losing amazing talent": A woman with long red eyebrown and hair with twisting dragon horns adorned with golden jewellery looks sadly over her shoulder against a pink sky

20/04/2023 @ 15:09 – A spokesperson for Activision Blizzard has provided PCGamesN with a response to Glaxigrav’s comments.

In the wake of World of Warcraft Dragonflight, one of the MMORPG‘s game producers claims that the WoW team could be making better content if Blizzard deals with its internal staff “crisis.”

Game producer Adam ‘Glaxigrav’ claims that “Blizzard is losing amazing talent because someone in power doesn’t listen to the game directors who make his products.”

In an April 18 Twitter thread, he continues, “And like, look: I don’t want to fight. I just want to make video games. I want to make amazing best sellers that are critically acclaimed. I want to make better Dragonflights. I want to make better experiences. Can’t do that if we get rid of everyone who made it.”

He goes on to clarify that Blizzard is apparently teetering on the edge in terms of staffing, writing “Last thought: ‘some talent’ is undermining the point. We are creating crisis maps of what we can or cannot ship. That is the loss of capacity we’re facing. I literally have a schedule I strike out as people hand in notice.

“We have amazing momentum. Dragonflight is a breath of fresh air. We have so many cool ideas to chase. We’ll still ship and I hope we can be proud of the work. It takes a Blizzard to make WoW, we can only build games as strong as we are.”

A tweet from an Activision Blizzard employee claiming that they could make better WoW expansions if the company deals with staffing issues

While it’s unclear who Glaxigrab is referring to in the first tweet, the comments section has immediately pinned the blame on Blizzard president Mike ‘Qwik’ Ybarra, who inherited the position in 2021 amid the lawsuit against the company.

Others have also expressed concern on the official World of Warcraft forums, writing, “it’s a bit concerning hearing about the stuff going on, and how it might end up negatively affecting WoW. Dragonflight has been pretty good so far and it would suck for things to get worse as they bleed out people.”

In a statement to PCGamesN, a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard responded to Glaxigrav’s comments. “World of Warcraft is a large, massively talented team that has been shipping more content than ever before to the community,” they state. “We remain committed to listening to player feedback and will continue to strive to exceed their expectations.”

On the term “crisis maps,” they clarify “this is not a team practice for World of Warcraft. However, making decisions around priorities, iterating, and ensuring quality are everyday parts of game development.”