More than 100 employees at Blizzard’s Ireland-based customer service office have voluntarily accepted contract buyouts to leave the company.

As reported by Eurogamer, sources claim staff at the Cork branch were offered payment at least five times over the last few months. The sums of money offered were also increased. One source said the money amounted to a year's salary.

Those who have so far accepted to leave voluntarily are expected to do so by the end of the month.

Customer impact

Concerns have been raised about what the departures will mean for customer support in Europe for Blizzard games.

The publisher claimed that its services will not be affected despite the high number of leavers. There are not thought to be immediate plans to shut down the Cork office.

Blizzard has been in the spotlight for a variety of reasons of late. The company saw a backlash from its fans following the announcement of Diablo Immortal.

Despite this, there appear to be plans afoot to extend its operations further into the mobile space.

A Kotaku report last month delved deep into what the future holds for Diablo and Activision’s apparent increasing influence on Blizzard.