Microsoft will share an update on the Xbox business later this week, the company confirmed Monday after weeks of reports and rumours of its first-party games coming to rival consoles. The Xbox parent will reveal its plans for the platform in a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast on February 15 at 12pm PT (February 16, 1.30am IST in India), where Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, Xbox president Sarah Bond and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will share details about the future Xbox roadmap. The confirmation comes after Spencer had promised last Tuesday that Microsoft would share its vision for the “future of Xbox” next week.
Layoffs at Toys for Bob and Sledgehammer Games affect between 30% and 40% of staff, insider says
27.01.2024 - 14:09 / eurogamer.net / Phil Spencer / Tom Henderson / Vikki Blake / Jason Schreier / Toys For Bob / For Bob
Crash Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob and Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer Games have reportedly lost around 40 per cent and 30 per cent of their staff, respectively.
The layoffs are part of Microsoft's decision to lay off 1900 employees across its video game teams. In an email sent to employees, Xbox boss Phil Spencer called this a «painful decision after Microsoft's $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, and $7.5bn acquisition of Zenimax in 2021. Microsoft also laid off almost 900 positions this time last year, too.
Newscast: Why are there so many games industry layoffs? Newscast: Why are there so many games industry layoffs?According to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, Activision Blizzard staff have been contacting him directly to find out if they've been affected, while industry insider Tom Henderson says that 40 per cent of Toys for Bob's workforce equates to around 35 staff (thanks, TheGamer).
These Xbox layoffs are such a mess that staff across Activision Blizzard are texting *me* to try to find out if they might be impacted. Nearly 2,000 job cuts and people now just have to wait around to see if they're part of the bloodbath
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) <a href=»https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1750543289227284649?ref_src=" https:>January 25, 2024 To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settingsSledgehammer, on the other hand, is listed on LinkedIn as employing between 500-1000 staff, intimating that anywhere between 150 and 300 staff could be affected by the job cuts.
It's been a horrific start to the year for the industry. As Victoria recently summarised for us, this month alone has seen multiple other companies announce layoffs, including League of Legends developer Riot Games, Black Forest Games, Unity, Behaviour Interactive, and Lords of the Fallen publisher CI Games.
Earlier this month GDC published its 2024 State of the Game Industry report, revealing that 35 percent of game developers had been impacted by layoffs in the last 12 months. Half of those surveyed admitted concerns that more job cuts were on the way, too.
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