Blizzard Employee Redeemed A Decade Of Free WoW Sub Time Before Being Laid Off
Blizzard Entertainment was one of the companies that were hit hard by the mass layoffs at Microsoft’s gaming divisions last week. While Microsoft promised severance packages for all affected employees, former product lead Adam Holisky decided to sweeten the deal by cashing in his World of Warcraft subscription codes for 10 years’ worth of free game time.
“Once I realized what was happening and that I was gonna be laid off, I made sure to jump into keyring and use all the 1-year subscription codes I have left,” Holisky revealed on X. He can now enjoy free access to the popular MMORPG until October 14, 2033, saving him a little over $1,500 on subscription fees. He’ll still have to pay for future expansions and cash shop items though.
Holisky was quick to note that what he did isn’t against the rules as the subscription codes are part of the perks of being employed at Blizzard. He just hadn’t gotten around to using them. Another former Blizzard employee, however, also tried to redeem his employee codes but ended up crashing the system.
Blizzard may have decided that it wasn’t going to lose out on what could amount to hundreds of thousands dollars’ worth of subscription fees if everyone followed Holisky’s lead, or maybe the system just couldn’t handle the strain. Whatever the case, free game time is a small compensation for the jobs lost and the lives uprooted by the sweeping layoffs.
Once I realized what was happening and that I was gonna be laid off, I made sure to jump into keyring and use all the 1-year subscription codes I have left.
— adamholisky.bsky.social (@AdamHolisky) January 26, 2024
