On the 26th day of the new year, another large company announced a reduction in staff. This time it is Microsoftwith a number of up to nearly 2,000 employees Xbox.
In a memo sent to employees, the head of Xbox Phil Spencer said the company “committed to aligning our strategy and execution plans with a sustainable cost structure to support our growing business as a whole.”. Therefore, “lworkforce in the gaming industry” has been cut about 8.6%, or about 1,900 jobs out of a total of 22,000 employees. Affected studios include: Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and Xbox. Spencer said that the company “grateful for all the creativity, passion and dedication that (these people) have brought to the game, our players and our colleagues”.
Spencer notes that this is one “painful decision” for Microsoft as a whole, while also making it clear that the company will “provide full support to those affected during the transition, including severance benefits in accordance with local labor laws”. Despite the reduction in headcount, Spencer said Microsoft remains committed to its strategy of growing the business and bringing more games to more people.
Around the same time as this news, another report stated that both Blizzard president Mike Ybarra and chief design officer Allen Adham had left the company. According to The Verge, Blizzard will announce a new president next week. The studio’s in-development survival game was also canceled due to these changes.
This comes about three months after Microsoft completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, giving it control of Call of Duty and other IPs. If you include the employees who are about to be laid off by Microsoft, in just 26 days of 2024, nearly 6,000 people working in the gaming industry will be laid off. This year seems to be a bright year for players when there are many good games that have been or are about to be released. For those who make them, however, things are looking a lot bleaker.
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