Microsoft laying off another 650 Xbox staff, Phil Spencer confirms

Microsoft laying off another 650 Xbox staff, Phil Spencer confirms

Microsoft is laying off around 650 employees from its Xbox division in a second round of cuts since the company acquired Activision Blizzard last year.

Tom West

Published 12 Sep 2024

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Tom West
It's been a terrible year for the games industry, with thousands of talented folks losing their jobs, and it doesn't look like it's over just yet. A letter addressed to staff from Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed that Microsoft is laying off another 650 employees from its gaming division "to organize our business for long-term success."

Another 650 job cuts hit staff at Xbox following Activision Blizzard acquisition

"For the past year, our goal has been to minimize disruption while welcoming new teams and enabling them to do their best work," Spencer's memo says (thanks, IGN). As part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business, we have made the decision to eliminate approximately 650 roles across Microsoft Gaming — mostly corporate and supporting functions — to organize our business for long-term success.

"I know that this is difficult news to hear. We are deeply grateful for the contributions of our colleagues who are learning they are impacted. In the US, we’re supporting them with exit packages that include severance, extended healthcare, and outplacement services to help with their transition; outside the US packages will differ according to location.

"With these changes, our corporate and supporting teams and resources are aligned for sustainable future growth, and can better support our studio teams and business units with programs and resources that can scale to meet their needs. Separately, as part of running the business, there are some impacts to other teams as they adapt to shifting priorities and manage the lifecycle and performance of games. No games, devices or experiences are being canceled and no studios are being closed as part of these adjustments today.

"Throughout our team’s history, we have had great moments, and we have had challenging ones. Today is one of the challenging days. I know that going through more changes like this is hard, but even in the most trying times, this team has been able to come together and show one another care and kindness as we work to continue delivering for our players. We appreciate your support as we navigate these changes and we thank you for your compassion and respect for each other."

Back in January, Microsoft laid off around 1,900 employees from across Xbox Game Studios, Activision Blizzard, and Bethesda. Those cuts were then followed by studio closures, which saw multiple Bethesda studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, close their doors.

Tango Gameworks has since been acquired by Krafton, confirming that the team will "continue developing the Hi-Fi Rush IP."
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Written by Tom West
Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.