Microsoft's Recent Layoffs Continue Across Multiple Divisions
Reports indicate that Microsoft has conducted further layoffs, impacting employees across its gaming, security, and sales departments. The exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed. Importantly, these job cuts are separate from a previous round of layoffs announced earlier in January.
The gaming industry has experienced significant hardship in recent years, with numerous companies, including Microsoft, implementing substantial workforce reductions in 2024. This has affected both large studios and smaller independent developers, with recent examples including IllFonic (Predator: Hunting Grounds) and People Can Fly (Outriders). Rocksteady also recently announced layoffs following the mixed reception of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Microsoft's own restructuring began in early 2024, with a January announcement of 1,900 job cuts within its Xbox gaming division. This included employees at acquired companies like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. A subsequent September layoff impacted 650 corporate and support staff at Activision Blizzard.
A new report from Business Insider (via GamesIndustry.biz) suggests another round of layoffs has occurred. While a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the cuts, the precise number of employees affected remains unspecified. The spokesperson emphasized that these layoffs are unrelated to the earlier January cuts, which reportedly focused on underperforming employees not directly linked to Xbox.
The Significance of Microsoft's Layoffs
Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are particularly noteworthy given its recent acquisitions of major publishers such as Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, and its achievement of a $3 trillion market valuation shortly after the substantial January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of job cuts drew scrutiny from the FTC, which attempted to use the Activision Blizzard layoffs as a reason to block or reverse Microsoft's acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher.
Previous Microsoft layoffs have impacted various areas, including Xbox's physical retail teams, the majority of Blizzard's customer service team, and internal development studios like Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Blizzard's unannounced survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was also canceled. The impact of these latest layoffs on the Xbox gaming division remains uncertain, pending confirmation of the number of employees affected.
