Microsoft Layoffs: More Employees Let Go

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 recently announced further layoffs affecting employees in its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The past few years have been challenging for the video game industry, with numerous companies, including Microsoft, implementing significant layoffs in 2024. These layoffs have impacted both large studios and smaller indie developers. Notable recent layoffs include those at Predator: Hunting Grounds developer IllFonic and Outriders studio People Can Fly. Additionally, Rocksteady announced another round of layoffs following the mixed reception to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League earlier this month.

Microsoft, one of the major companies affected by these layoffs, has been reducing its Xbox workforce since early 2024. In January, Microsoft announced the layoff of 1,900 employees from its Xbox gaming division, including staff at acquired subsidiaries like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. In September, another 650 employees were let go from corporate and support positions at Activision Blizzard.

According to a recent report from Business Insider (via GamesIndustry.biz), Microsoft may have initiated another round of layoffs. A Microsoft spokesperson indicated that these latest cuts would affect a small number of staff members, though the exact number remains unspecified. Importantly, these new layoffs are separate from an earlier round of cuts announced earlier 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, as well as the milestone of reaching a $3 trillion market value shortly after the substantial January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of cuts prompted complaints from the FTC, which attempted to use the layoffs at Activision Blizzard to challenge 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 survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was canceled following these layoffs. The exact number of employees affected by the latest reported layoffs at Microsoft remains undisclosed, leaving the potential impact on the Xbox gaming division uncertain.