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, adding to the challenges faced by the video game industry in recent years. In 2024 alone, numerous companies, including Microsoft, have announced significant layoffs affecting both large studios and smaller indie developers. Notable examples include 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 of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Microsoft has been at the forefront of these layoffs, with cuts to its Xbox workforce beginning in early 2024. In January, Microsoft announced the layoffs of 1,900 employees from its Xbox gaming division, including staff from subsidiaries such as Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. By September, another 650 employees were let go, this time from corporate and support roles at Activision Blizzard.

A new report from Business Insider (via GamesIndustry.biz) suggests that Microsoft may have conducted another round of layoffs. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed these cuts would affect a small number of staff members, though the exact number remains undisclosed. Importantly, these latest layoffs are unrelated to the earlier cuts announced in January, which targeted underperforming employees not necessarily linked to Xbox.

Microsoft’s ongoing layoffs are particularly significant given its recent acquisitions of major publishers like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, as well as its achievement of a $3 trillion market value shortly after the January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of cuts led to scrutiny from the FTC, which attempted to use the layoffs at Activision Blizzard as a basis to challenge Microsoft’s merger with the Call of Duty publisher.

Previous Microsoft layoffs have impacted various sectors, including Xbox’s physical retail teams, most of Blizzard’s customer service team, and in-house developers like Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Additionally, Blizzard’s survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was canceled following these layoffs. The full impact of the latest reported layoffs on Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division remains unclear, as the number of affected employees has not been confirmed.