Microsoft Layoffs: More Employees Affected

Summary

• Microsoft has reportedly laid off more employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions.
• It's unclear how many employees have been impacted.
• These new layoffs are also unconnected to a previous round of cuts announced earlier in January.

Microsoft has reportedly initiated another round of layoffs affecting its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The video game industry has faced significant challenges in recent years, with numerous companies, including Microsoft, announcing substantial layoffs in 2024. These cuts have impacted both major developers and smaller indie studios. Recent examples include layoffs at IllFonic, the developer of Predator: Hunting Grounds, and People Can Fly, known for Outriders. Additionally, Rocksteady, the studio behind Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, announced layoffs following the game's mixed reception.

Microsoft, in particular, has been cutting back on its Xbox workforce since the beginning of 2024. In January, the company announced the layoff of 1,900 employees from its Xbox gaming division, including staff at acquired subsidiaries like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. Later in September, another 650 employees were let go from corporate and support positions at Activision Blizzard.

According to a new report from Business Insider (via GamesIndustry.biz), Microsoft may have just conducted another round of layoffs. A Microsoft spokesperson mentioned that these latest cuts would affect a small number of staff members, but did not disclose the exact number of employees impacted. These layoffs are separate from earlier cuts announced in January, which targeted underperforming workers not necessarily connected to Xbox.

Microsoft Could Be Laying Off More Xbox Employees

Microsoft's recent layoffs are particularly significant given the company's acquisitions of major publishers like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, as well as its achievement of reaching a $3 trillion market value shortly after the large-scale layoffs in January 2024. The initial wave of cuts led to criticism from the FTC, which considered using the layoffs at Activision Blizzard to challenge or reverse Microsoft's high-profile merger with the Call of Duty publisher.

Previous Microsoft layoffs have also affected Xbox's physical retail teams, most of Blizzard's customer service team, and in-house developers such as Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Blizzard's unnamed survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was canceled as a result of these layoffs. The number of employees affected by the most recent layoffs remains undisclosed, and the impact on the Xbox gaming division is still uncertain.