After a wave of layoffs in Microsoft’s ranks in 2023, affecting more than 10,000 employees, the American giant did it again at the beginning of the year and cut several hundred positions in the Microsoft gaming division.
Xbox has laid off 1,900 employees, most of them at Activision Blizzard!
While Microsoft finally managed to acquire Activision Blizzard King in October 2023, we learned today via The Verge that 1,900 Microsoft gaming employees were laid off this week. The majority of affected staff are from Activision Blizzard, while Xbox and ZeniMax employees are less affected.
This reduction of 1,900 jobs represents 8% of the 22,000 positions at Microsoft Gaming. The Verge was also able to get their hands on a memo shared by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.
It’s been a little over three months since the teams from Activision, Blizzard and King joined Microsoft. In 2024, Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard leaders are committed to aligning strategy and execution plans with a sustainable cost structure that will support our growing business as a whole. Together, we set priorities, identified areas of overlap and ensured we were all aligned on the best growth opportunities.
As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1,900 positions from our 22,000-strong team. The Games leadership team and I are committed to moving this process forward as thoughtfully as possible. The people directly affected by these cuts have been instrumental in the success of the Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and Xbox teams and should be proud of what they have accomplished here. We are grateful to him for the creativity, passion and dedication he has brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide all support to those affected by the transition, including severance benefits required by local employment law. Those whose roles will be affected will be notified and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with respect and compassion aligned with our values.
Going forward, we will continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy to bring more games to more players around the world. While this is a challenging time for our team, I have more confidence than ever in your ability to create and maintain games, stories, and worlds that bring players together.
Phil
Blizzard president and well-known face among gamers Mike Ybarra announced his departure from the company at X. Alan Adham, head of design at Blizzard, also announced his departure. Blizzard’s new president is expected to be named next week.
The sad situation comes several months after Sarah Bond was promoted to president of Xbox, with Matt Booty not forgetting his new role as president of games and studio content, thus implying accountability within the Zenimax entity. Also, following the departure of Bobby Kotick, Activision Blizzard leaders are now reporting to Matt Booty.
The announcement unfortunately follows numerous other layoffs, including Riot, CI Games, Decord, Twitch, People Can Fly, and many others.