Introducing Level Up U to Create Opportunities for Under-Represented Communities in Gaming and Tech

Chief People Officer Julie Hodges announces a new initiative to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent within Activision Blizzard.

Last year, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick announced that the company would invest $250 million to accelerate opportunities in gaming and technology for under-represented communities. With input from our employees, we have been working diligently to find the right opportunities for that investment. Today, I’m pleased to introduce our first key initiative from this fund – Level Up U.

Level Up U is a unique, three-month program developed to help individuals from all backgrounds start their careers in gaming. It is designed to teach participants the basics of game development and ultimately prepare them for engineering roles within the company. In addition to traditional classroom and project-based work, those in the program will also have access to our incredible leaders who will serve as guest speakers and mentors.

Our inaugural program will focus on developing engineering talent. We are looking for candidates who have a programming background, familiarity with C++, and are ultimately seeking an engineering position within the company. After completing the program, participants will work with our recruiting team to identify a full-time engineering role that meets both their personal interests and the needs of the company.

We recognize this opportunity may be a good fit for individuals who are already part of our organization. Therefore, we are excited to open up the application process to internal candidates who meet the requirements of the program. If selected, individuals would shift out of their current role and be embedded into the program full-time beginning in June.

You can learn more about the program here.

I encourage you to share information about Level Up U with your networks and help us shape what the next generation of engineering talent looks like at Activision Blizzard. This is an incredible opportunity for us to welcome individuals of all backgrounds – regardless of previous game industry experience – to our world-class engineering and development teams.