Daily Briefing: Wednesday 17th March

Activision Blizzard announce eSports layoffs

According to new reports by Bloomberg and the Sports Business Journal, Activision Blizzard have axed 50 staff from their live events and eSports business areas - as the company are attempting to adapt to a more digitally-focused effort in the wake of the pandemic.

• Activision Blizzard originally announced that 50 people had been let go from these divisions but the real number could be much higher, with sources suggesting that around 2% of staff (190) people were let go. Bloomberg have also reported that affected US staff are receiving 90 days of severance, a year of health benefits and...a $200 gift card to Battle.net.

Another big Bobby Kotick payout has nettled investors

And, in an eerily familiar addition to the layoffs story, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is set to receive a $200m payout thanks to the "Shareholder Value Creation Incentive" provision in his contract, which entitles him to a full, backdated performance equity payout regardless of whether company milestones were reached. Kotick is poised to receive cash rewards from as far back as 2017.

• The pay-out has forced another statement from CtW Investment Group, who rose to prominence last year for their criticism of Activision Blizzard and EA's executive compensation. While CtW admit that the increase in Activision's stock prices over the years is "commendable", they feel that there are just too many variables at play to credit Kotick with the improvement. They highlight gaming's importance during the pandemic as one of these factors and Kotick can't claim credit for that...or at least he hasn't tried to just yet.

Former Stadia boss launches new PlayStation-backed studio

Jade Raymond, previously the head of Google's first-party games studio Stadia Games and Entertainment, this week announced the creation of new studio based in Montreal, Canada. Haven will be working on an original IP funded by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

• The announcement comes just a few weeks after Raymond departed her role at Stadia in the wake of Google's decision to shutter all in-house development. Raymond was a veteran producer with experience with the Assassin's Creed franchise and EA's Motive studio, so it'll be interesting to see what her new studio can cook up for the PS5.

Assassin's Creed: Valhalla's approach to transmog raises a few eyebrows

Transmog has been a much-requested feature in Valhalla since release and it finally released this week, but it turns out players have to pay for the privilege - and it can get pretty expensive. It costs 50 silver each time and, though silver is easy enough to come by early on, it could quickly become a grind later on, forcing players to pick and choose when to customise their character - or fork out real money in the in-game shop.

• On top of it being a bizarre cash grab, players are upset because transmog has been a thing in previous Assassin's Creed games and it was entirely free. Odyssey, for example, allowed you to change up your appearance for free from the main menu whenever you felt like it - but Valhalla have tied a price tag to it and locked it to a single NPC. It all just feels needless, but if ever a word perfectly described Assassin's Creed's Helix Store, it would certainly be that one.