Ex-Blizzard Versailles Employees Win Legal Battle Against the Company

Former Blizzard Versailles employees have won their case against Blizzard which would allow them to claim payments after being laid off in 2020.

The news of the closure of the Blizzard office in French Versailles became known at the end of 2020 followed by a trio of unions (CGT, SPECIS-UNSA, and CFE-CGC) calling on employees for a strike "to defend our jobs and save our company." The unions claimed that Blizzard had been planning to close the office for a long time, although the company had denied it. The closure of the office also led to around 285 people being left out of work in the middle of the pandemic.

An in-depth investigation by French outlet Gamekult revealed that prior to layoffs, Blizzard used PSE – a French legal framework that helps to reduce and avoid layoffs in the event of financial difficulties in the company. Back in 2019, the Versailles court ruled out that Blizzard hadn't taken enough action to avoid cuts and failed to prove alleged financial difficulties amid record-breaking Activision reports.

When the company did successfully use the PSE in 2020, the employees went to the appeals court, trying to challenge the justification of the framework. Now, according to Gamekult, they have won the case and secured a decision in their favor.

The court's decision to invalidate Blizzard Versailles's PSE means that ex-Blizzard employees from Versailles who applied to the court can receive compensation worth up to six months' salary. However, they will not be able to restore their workplace, because, over the course of the legal battle, Activision managed to completely close the local division of the studio.