Sad news for shooter fans: Activision Blizzard is going to rework its esports division and it’s not for the better.

According to a Sports Business Journal interview, Activision Blizzard Esports will be restructuring its organization, which means laying off about 50 people in the company. The group’s top executive Tony Petitti said this is a result of attempting to reinvent itself during the pandemic. The people who are losing their jobs today will be receiving proper severance packages.

In addition to the 90 days severance package and a year of health benefits, laid-off staff will also receive a US$200 Battle.net gift card. Ooookay…..

The cuts are due to a mix of cost reduction and the reallocation of certain resources to other areas. Here’s what Petitti had to say:

“We learned a lot last year in terms of how the leagues can be structured for online play, and we’ll look to carry forward the best practices from that. In terms of timing, it’s a reaction to the realities of how the leagues are playing and what resources we need to allocate to best serve the league, owners, teams and fans.”

He also said that the business will be less dependent on live events, more specifically the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League. However, he stressed that Activision Blizzard isn’t moving 100 percent away from live events; they will get back to it when possible. For now, the future of both leagues will be online-only.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out later in 2021.