Microsoft Layoffs Continue: 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 laid off additional employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions, marking another challenging period for the video game industry in 2024. The past few years have seen numerous companies, including Microsoft, announce significant layoffs. These cuts have affected both major developers and smaller indie studios, with recent examples including IllFonic, the developer behind Predator: Hunting Grounds, and People Can Fly, known for Outriders. Earlier this month, Rocksteady also announced layoffs following the mixed reception to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Microsoft, a prominent player in the gaming industry, has been cutting jobs within its Xbox workforce since early 2024. In January, the company announced the layoff of 1,900 staff members from its Xbox gaming division, which included employees at recently acquired subsidiaries like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. Another round of layoffs in September affected 650 employees in corporate and support roles at Activision Blizzard.

According to a recent report from Business Insider (via GamesIndustry.biz), Microsoft may have conducted another round of layoffs. A spokesperson mentioned that these latest cuts would impact a small number of staff members, though the exact number remains unspecified. Importantly, these new layoffs are unrelated to an earlier round of cuts announced in January, which targeted underperforming workers not necessarily connected to Xbox.

Microsoft Could Be Laying Off More Xbox Employees

Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are particularly significant given the company's recent acquisitions of major publishers like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. This comes shortly after Microsoft achieved a $3 trillion market valuation following the substantial January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of cuts drew criticism from the FTC, which attempted to use the layoffs at Activision Blizzard as leverage to block or reverse Microsoft's high-profile merger with the Call of Duty publisher.

Previous Microsoft layoffs have also affected Xbox's physical retail teams, as well as most of Blizzard's customer service team and in-house developers such as Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Additionally, Blizzard's survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was canceled amid these layoffs. The number of employees impacted by the most recent layoffs has yet to be confirmed, leaving the potential effects on the Xbox gaming division uncertain.