Due to French labor laws, an estimated 400 employees at Blizzard’s Versailles, France location could be left waiting for months to see if they’ve lost their jobs or not.
This news follows the massive layoffs that hit Activision Blizzard employees earlier in the week, leaving an estimated 8 percent of people without a job.
As a reminder, there’s an updated document of studios currently hiring for those affected.
As reported by Kotaku, Blizzard’s French office told its staff on Wednesday that 134 of its 400 positions would be eliminated.
It’s worth noting that this doesn’t necessarily mean Blizzard will lay off 134 people, as some employees might be given opportunities across the company’s other European offices in Cork, Ireland or The Hague, Netherlands.
However, it’s still not a great position to be put in, especially for those who can’t (or have no desire) to move to a new country.
In addition, complicated French labor laws make it difficult to lay people off immediately and without notification, putting Blizzard’s Versailles office (which handles PR, esports, localization, customer support, and marketing for their games in Europe) in this position.
As of right now, employees still don’t know which positions will be eliminated, who’s affected, what kind of severance package they’ll receive, or even when they’ll find out if their jobs are safe.
As always, if you or someone you know was affected by this event you can contact Gamasutra to tell your story in confidence.