Microsoft reportedly told employees that it views “every screen [as] an Xbox” ahead of a much-anticipated business update.
26.01.2024 - 11:05 / pcgamesinsider.biz / Phil Spencer
Microsoft is laying off around 1,900 members of staff from its games division.
That's according to IGN, which reports that Xbox boss Phil Spencer has announced these massive cuts in an internal memo. The exec says that Microsoft will be providing "full support" to those affected. 8.6 per cent of Xbox's workforce is affected by this round of layoffs.
This comes in the wake of Microsoft closing its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard at the tail end of 2023. The tech giant recently crossed $3 trillion market cap, becoming the second firm to do so.
“It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft," Spencer wrote.
"As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth.
“As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1,900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible. The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here. We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws. Those whose roles will be impacted will be notified, and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with the respect and compassion that is consistent with our values.
“Looking ahead, we'll continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I'm as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together."
Microsoft reportedly told employees that it views “every screen [as] an Xbox” ahead of a much-anticipated business update.
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.
Microsoft has announced a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast for February 15th, noon PT. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, president Sarah Bond and Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will be present and provide “updates on the Xbox business.” Last week, Spencer said this would be a business update event to discuss the company’s “vision for Xbox’s future.”
Microsoft's gaming top brass are expected to lay out their plans to publish some Xbox games on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms via a business update released this week as a podcast.
Microsoft has confirmed plans to deliver its eagerly awaited Xbox business update on February 15.
Reports are suggesting that the next-generation console may be made by the same team that developed the Microsoft Surface tablet. Jason Ronald, the person responsible for leading the development of the Xbox Series X|S and the Xbox One, is also reportedly not in charge of the team creating the upcoming console.
Microsoft has reportedly held an internal townhall meeting with employees that saw the company pledge it will keep making Xbox consoles. The purported event is said to have been held mere days after the emergence of reports that the company is planning to sacrifice some Xbox console exclusives in order to embrace multi-platform publishing.
Microsoft’s gaming division reportedly held an internal townhall meeting this week, to address reports it could be bringing some of its first-party games to other console platforms.
A day after reports of multiple Microsoft first-party titles possibly making their way to rival platforms, the company said early Tuesday that it would host a business update event next week, detailing the “future of Xbox.” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer posted the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), promising more details to the Xbox community. While the Xbox chief did not confirm the agenda of the event, Microsoft reportedly will reveal its plan to bring its exclusive titles, said to include Hi-Fi Rush and others, to rival platforms from Sony and Nintendo next week.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has said the recent spate of layoffs at Microsoft «contradict» what was presented in the antitrust trial over the company's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint against Microsoft to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit following the news of the company planning to lay off around 1,900 members of staff from across its Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax teams.
Microsoft reneged on promises it made in court during its Federal Trade Commission (FTC) antitrust trial in 2023 by laying off 1,900 employees in late January, according to the FTC. FTC lawyer Imad Abyad filed a letter with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday, effectively telling on Microsoft. “This newly-revealed information contradicts Microsoft’s representations in this proceeding,” the FTC lawyer wrote.