Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off More Employees

Summary

• Microsoft has reportedly conducted further layoffs across its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The exact number of employees affected remains undisclosed.
• These layoffs are separate from previous rounds of cuts announced earlier in January and more recently.

Microsoft has reportedly implemented another round of layoffs affecting its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The past few years have been challenging for the video game industry, with numerous companies, including Microsoft, announcing significant job cuts in 2024. This has impacted both large and small studios, 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 itself has been reportedly reducing its Xbox workforce since the beginning of 2024. In January 2024, the company announced 1,900 layoffs within its Xbox gaming division, impacting acquired subsidiaries like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. Further cuts in September affected 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 exact number of employees affected remains unspecified. These layoffs are distinct from previous cuts focused on underperforming employees unrelated to Xbox.

Microsoft Could Be Laying Off More Xbox Employees

Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are particularly noteworthy given its recent acquisitions of major publishers like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, and its achievement of a $3 trillion market value shortly after the large-scale January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of cuts drew FTC scrutiny, with the agency initially attempting to use the Activision Blizzard layoffs as grounds to block or reverse the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger.

Previous Microsoft layoffs impacted 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 unannounced survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was also canceled following these layoffs. The scale of the latest reported layoffs remains unconfirmed, and their impact on the Xbox gaming division is currently unknown.