Blizzard Entertainment Employee Reviews about "work life balance"
Updated Sep 2, 2021
- Administrative
- Arts & Design
- Business
- Consulting
- Customer Services & Support
- Education
- Engineering
- Finance & Accounting
- Healthcare
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- Legal
- Marketing
- Media & Communications
- Military & Protective Services
- Operations
- Other
- Product & Project Management
- Research & Science
- Retail & Food Services
- Sales
- Skilled Labor & Manufacturing
- Transportation
- Current Employees
- Part-time
- Contract
- Internship
- Full-time
- Freelance
- Worldwide
- Germany - All Cities
- - Bavaria
- - Hamburg
- - Hamburg, Germany Area
- - Hamburg
- United States - All Cities
- - California
- - Los Angeles, CA Area
- - Irvine, CA
- - Santa Monica, CA
- - Santa Clarita, CA
- - Mission Viejo, CA
- - Los Angeles, CA
- - Orange, CA
- - Fountain Valley, CA
- - Anaheim, CA
- - Burbank, CA
- - Foothill Ranch, CA
- - Aliso Viejo, CA
- - Lake Los Angeles, CA
- - Riverside, CA Area
- - Corona, CA
- - Ontario, CA
- - San Francisco, CA Area
- - Belmont, CA
- - San Francisco, CA
- - Santa Cruz, CA Area
- - Santa Cruz, CA
- - Texas
- - Austin, TX Area
- - Austin, TX
- - Round Rock, TX
- - Leander, TX
- - Tennessee
- - Nashville, TN Area
- - Nashville, TN
- - Oklahoma
- - Oklahoma City, OK Area
- - Oklahoma City, OK
- - Louisiana
- - Baton Rouge, LA Area
- - Baton Rouge, LA
- - New York State
- - New York City, NY Area
- - New York, NY
- - Albany, NY Area
- - Albany, NY
- - Georgia
- - Atlanta, GA Area
- - Atlanta, GA
- - Kentucky
- - Washington State
- - Seattle, WA Area
- - Seattle, WA
- - Arizona
- - Tucson, AZ Area
- - Tucson, AZ
- - Michigan
- - Ann Arbor, MI Area
- - Ann Arbor, MI
- - Holland, MI Area
- - Holland, MI
- - Minnesota
- - Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Area
- - Minneapolis, MN
- - Indiana
- - Indianapolis, IN Area
- - Indianapolis, IN
- - Utah
- - Salt Lake City, UT Area
- - Herriman, UT
- - Virginia
- United Kingdom - All Cities
- - England
- - Plymouth, United Kingdom Area
- - Bodmin, England
- - London, United Kingdom Area
- - London, England
- Canada - All Cities
- - Ontario
- - London, ON, Canada Area
- - London, ON
- Brazil - All Cities
- - São Paulo
- - Sao Paulo, Brazil Area
- - São Paulo, São Paulo
- Thailand - All Cities
- - Pathum Thani
- - Bangkok, Thailand Area
- - Pathum Thani
- Ireland - All Cities
- - Munster
- - Cork, Ireland Area
- - Cork
- - Blackpool, Cork
- - Cork
- South Korea - All Cities
- - Soul
- - Seoul, South Korea Area
- - Seoul
- Mexico - All Cities
- - México
- - Mexico City, Mexico Area
- - Ciudad de Mexico
- - Jalisco
- - Guadalajara, Mexico Area
- - Guadalajara, Jalisco
- Romania - All Cities
- - Bucuresti
- - Bucharest, Romania Area
- - Bucharest, Bucuresti
- Croatia - All Cities
- - Grad Zagreb
- - Zagreb, Croatia Area
- - Zagreb
- Argentina - All Cities
- - Federal Capital
- - Buenos Aires, Argentina Area
- - Buenos Aires
- Australia - All Cities
- - New South Wales
- - Sydney, Australia Area
- - Sydney
- Iceland - All Cities
- - Capital Region
- - Reykjavik, Iceland Area
- - Reykjavík
- Taiwan - All Cities
- - T'ai-pei
- - Tainan, Taiwan Area
- - Taipei
- China - All Cities
- - Shanghai
- - Shanghai, China Area
- - Shanghai, Shanghai
- Indonesia - All Cities
- - East Nusa Tenggara
- Netherlands - All Cities
- - South Holland
- - The Hague, Netherlands Area
- - The Hague
- India - All Cities
- - Tamil Nadu
- - Karnataka
- - Bangalore, India Area
- - Bangalore
- - Delhi
- - New Delhi, India Area
- - New Delhi
- - Bihar
- British Indian Ocean Territory - All Cities
- Burkina Faso - All Cities
- - Boulkiemdé
- France - All Cities
- - Ile-de-France
- - Paris, France Area
- - Versailles
- - Vélizy-Villacoublay
- - Paris
- - Normandy
- Sweden - All Cities
- - Stockholm
- - Stockholm, Sweden Area
- - Stockholm, Stockholm
- English
- French
- German
- Dutch
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Italian
Found 66 of over 1K reviews
- Popular
- COVID-19 Related
- Highest Rating
- Lowest Rating
- Most Recent
- Oldest First
Got a burning question about Blizzard Entertainment? Just ask!
On Fishbowl, you can share insights and advice anonymously with Blizzard Entertainment employees and get real answers from people on the inside.
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
- "great people you work with at the lower levels but diminishes as you go up the ranks" (in 148 reviews)
- "Good work life balance; they actively try to make sure people aren't worked too hard." (in 31 reviews)
- "Low pay across the board except for the rare few dozen who are either execs or particularly special/tenured devs." (in 81 reviews)
- "People who are still considered new are given less trust and struggle moving the needle for their role, especially middle management on non" (in 62 reviews)
- "Low compensation in an exceptionally high cost of living area and ever rising demands" (in 22 reviews)
- "Most of the have zero management training, no college education, and no leadership qualities whatsoever." (in 21 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of Blizzard Entertainment and is not affected by filters.
- Race / Ethnicity
- Gender
- Sexual Orientation
- Disability
- Parent or Family Caregiver
- Veteran Status
Reviews about "work life balance"
Return to all Reviews- Current Employee, more than 5 years★★★★★
Pros
Warm and inviting culture that celebrates your inner geek-- whether that is gaming, role-playing, movies, comics, you name it. Blizzard offers many avenues to level up your skills at Blizzard U. They frequently bring in guest lecturers and have classes in art, programming, and also classes in leadership and management. Fellow colleagues are the best in the world at their craft. I believe that everyone at Blizzard is really trying to make the best game possible for our players. On development teams, there is a good work-life balance and it's rare in the past few years that there is a long run of overtime work.
Cons
Rent in Irvine can be high and options for a social scene can be limited compared to Los Angeles. Just something to consider.
- Current Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Awesome place to work!!!
Feb 6, 2015 - Anonymous Employee in Irvine, CARecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
The Blizzard community is very unique. We are filled with fun, smart, passionate people who care about what we do and the impact we have on our players. The work life balance is amazing - our family has families of their own that we care about. We have celebrations for releases of new games and expansions which involve a champagne shower! In addition, we are taking the entire company to Vegas in March to have a party celebrating all our wins for 2014. The benefits are extremely rich. Health/dental/vision/pet/Autism insurances are available, 401K w/a 20% matching and MUCH MUCH more! First year employees get a total of 5 1/2 weeks off (vacation/sick time/holidays/Christmas Break) and goes up a week the beginning of your 2nd year. Blizzard employees stay a LONG time! Our service awards are unbelievable. At 5 years you get a sword (yes it is real1), ten years you get a shield and twenty years a crown. We set you up for battle!!! The values of the company match my personal values which is huge!
Cons
Compensation is very competitive however, the structure of the comp plan is unlike a typical comp plan. Base + profit sharing + bonuses. It can challenge your annual budget plan, just needs to be more creative!
Continue reading - Current Employee★★★★★
Wonderful Company
Oct 31, 2016 - Anonymous Employee in Irvine, CARecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
There is so much community with this company it is hard to select just a few pros. Very much a company that tries to balance work and home life with healthy lifestyles.
Cons
As with any company there will be cons no matter what department you work in. The grass isn't always greener. The one con would be for the folks who don't get to enjoy any type of holiday due to needing to be there for the customers.
- Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Epic experience!
May 27, 2017 - Marketing Manager in São Paulo, São PauloRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Outstanding place and colleagues to work with and expose your ideas. We iterate a lot and the core value "Every voice matters" is taken seriously.
Cons
Workload is growing up fast but they don't invest in off sites leaving the work life balance damaged. The same 3 resources of 5 years a go are the only ones office with triple the work.
Continue reading - Current Employee★★★★★
Fun Work Environment, Long Hours, Great Perks
Oct 12, 2019 - ProducerRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Everyone who works at Blizzard is incredibly passionate about gaming and Blizzard IPs. Work hard and it will pay off. Great benefits and employee perks.
Cons
long hours and the work/life balance isn't great depending on what team you are on.
- Current Employee★★★★★
An amazing place to work, that's hitting its stride
Apr 18, 2017 - Anonymous Employee in Irvine, CARecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
- Industry leader in gaming - Great work culture and a focus on work/life balance - Incredible awards for years of service - Numerous employee appreciation events - Vacation/Time-Off is very competitive compared to other companies in the industry
Cons
- Parts of the company foster a mentality of leaving and then coming back to get to the job level that you want to be versus providing the opportunity to learn and grow - Career growth and skills matrices aren't clearly defined - Many decisions are made by committee, which can lead to drawn out deadlines and a lack of precision in execution.
Continue reading - Former Intern, less than 1 year★★★★★
Pros
great team and there are a lot of perks to enjoy
Cons
the downside is there's is little work life balance
- Current Employee★★★★★
Pros
This is now a production house, which could be viewed as a pro to some people as development decisions are now hammered down and owned by producers. So things get done faster now, but at the cost of development team morale and overall game quality. Blizzard was a fantastic place to work pre-Titan days. Iteration and dedication to the design and player experience was number one priority and the whole company was behind it. Blizzard does have a pretty good work/life balance although some teams crunch way more than others. Blizzard offers decent benefits but does not compete with other top-tier companies in terms of vacation time (It takes 8 years to get 1 more week of vacation). It also has great healthcare (even though it seems to change every year) packages.
Cons
After project Titan failed, things changed dramatically at Blizzard. It went from being a design house to a production house. Now we have producers and business people dictating the direction and scope for games instead of the developers themselves designing great new features for their game. I've been to too many meetings where producers outnumbered actual game developers, which has created a culture of micro-management and over-lording. The producers don't do a good job of listening to the developers and what the developers think are best for the project and instead dictate from on high based on conversations with business and marketing people about what should be done next for each game. The company is very risk averse at this point and the executives are unwilling to layout a vision for the future (or maybe just don't know what we should be doing). Unless it is a competitive PvP game, the company upper management feels hostile towards other styles of games that it could be successful in.
Continue reading - Former Employee, more than 1 year★★★★★
Great place to boost your PR career and awesome culture!
Sep 19, 2018 - Public Relations Manager in Ciudad de MexicoRecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
Great place to push your boundaries, experiment and succeed! My manager (senior lead in my department) gave comprehensive and ongoing feedback and expressed recognition when goals were exceeded. Salary and benefits are competitive for the local market (in Latin America, apparently not the same for California based colleagues). Team oriented culture, a lot of autonomy and opportunities to take your ideas to the next level. Very PR focused company, and a great company to do comms and PR. Incredible passion for what they do, their products, games, and company history. Very talented people in the Game Development teams and international publishing teams (Marketing, PR, Community, Biz Dev, etc) Work life balance is decent My team leader and senior regional leader encouraged team members to be bold and not to be afraid of trying new things. It's a great way to do 'creative and bold' marketing and PR. Robust onboarding process. A lot of trust from middle management in the regions.
Cons
Interview process, hiring and oboarding can be tough for international workers where Blizzard does not have robust physical operations. Mine took over 6 moths for example. Company is improving in this regard and dealing with this growing pains however. Small teams and flat structures... this is usually a plus! BUT in this case that puts serious limits on your options to grow and be promoted, specially in PR and Comms team, unless you relocate overseas. A lot of confusion on what "Global" and "U.S" functions are, as an American company both terms are usually confused, particularly when developing "Global" plans and activities that in any other company would be considered solely "U.S. focused". North America (aka Global) teams while well intentioned, lacks understanding of other markets dynamics and global trends. Several managers and even directors in senior positions (mostly in HQ) got there after many years in the company but lack advanced management skills or even technical skills gained through previous work in other leading global cutting-edge companies... IMHO talent/skills/exp. in middle management can be improved. I used to do a mental exercise back when I was at Blizzard: if we were at a meeting and at the table we had the "Global (Marketing, PR, Communications, Biz Dev) Manager" from Blizzard (or one of our franchises) and at the same table we had the same/equivalent roles from other leading tech/digital companies (Amazon, Disney, Netflix, AirBnB, LinkedIn, Universal, Facebook, Apple, etc.) ... would we (Blizzard) have the best or at least top 5 best qualified and brilliant professional in the table? Most of the times I answered myself: I highly doubt it (not even close).
Continue reading - Current Employee, more than 3 years★★★★★
Fun, challenging place to work in the middle of changes
Mar 19, 2021 - Senior Systems Engineer in Irvine, CARecommendCEO ApprovalBusiness OutlookPros
The employees are great to work with; they are definitely the strongest part of the company. Work is challenging dealing with so many teams with large projects. More so now with the a lot of the tech shifting to new tech (kubernetes, cloud, containers, etc.) while trying to maintain the old stuff. Good work life balance; they actively try to make sure people aren't worked too hard. To be fair, some of this stuff probably depends on the team you are working on. Prior to COVID they had lots of events and food for employees that were always a great time. They've done a great job pivoting during COVID and empowering employees to continue to get stuff done while also making sure employees maintain a good work/life balance. Overall I would say there is a positive outlook for the future based on the new games coming out soon and how they have been pivoting toward modern infrastructure/development the last couple years.
Cons
Some teams could use some more resources and it shows. Dealing with a lot of legacy stuff and lots of teams things sometimes move slow. Pay could be a little better to be more competitive. Especially if you aren't getting a promotion.. even high performing employees don't usually get reflective raises. Granted the last couple years have been "down" years for Blizzard particularly. Overall the company is struggling to maintain their history of quality while moving towards a faster release cycle to keep up with the times.
Continue reading
Popular Careers with Blizzard Entertainment Job Seekers
Work at Blizzard Entertainment? Share Your Experiences
