Microsoft lays off 650 more Xbox employees

Microsoft announces 650 layoffs between Xbox and Activision Blizzard

Microsoft has announced that it will be laying off around 650 employees in its Microsoft Gaming (Xbox) division. These cuts are reportedly related to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, with Phil Spencer stating that “no games, devices or experiences are being cancelled” as part of this process. Additionally, no developers will be closed down during this round of layoffs.

Last year, Microsoft closed its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Bringing Activision Blizzard into Microsoft Gaming has undoubtedly created a lot of overlap between the management of both structures. Microsoft has stated that this new round of layoffs is “mostly corporate and supporting functions.”

Below is Phil Spencer’s full statement to employees, which comes to us via The Verge.

For the past year, our goal has been to minimize disruption while welcoming new teams and enabling them to do their best work. 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 cancelled 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.

Phil

At this time, it is unknown how Microsoft’s layoffs will impact Microsoft Gaming. Microsoft Gaming is a large organisation that is in control of a huge number of game studios. Microsoft appears to be handling these layoffs tactically, hoping to minimise the impact of these cuts on games in development. Even so, the announcement of these layoffs will certainly harm morale across the entire organisation. That’s something that will have an impact on Microsoft Gaming’s many projects.

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