Xbox head Phil Spencer is set to make an announcement regarding the future of platform exclusives tomorrow, and a new Xbox Game Pass perk handily offers three months of Calm Premium.
25.01.2024 - 15:51 / rockpapershotgun.com / Phil Spencer / Mike Ybarra
Given that Microsoft have spent considerable time and effort becoming the biggest cock-of-the-walk possible, it does, I suppose, make sense that their layoffs are correspondingly massive. In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Phil Spencer is very sad to reveal to the staff that, in order to grow, the combined powers of Microsoft's 22k-strong Gaming Division have to be denuded to the tune of 1,900 human beings. That amounts to about 8% of the division.
Oh, Icarus. "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," says Phil. "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." Presumably, because this is a move to "strengthen growth", all these people can apply for their old jobs in a few years, once sufficient growth has been achieved.
The move, which Phil describes as "a painful decision", comes a few years after Microsoft bought ZeniMax (a nesting doll that included Bethesda, what made Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) but only about three months after Microsoft managed to acquire Activision Blizzard for a nearly-memetastic amount of $68.7 billion. It sort of makes sense. Shrinking headcount is often one of the first things a business does when it has eaten a smaller, weaker one. Plus, Microsoft have form on this. At almost the same time last year they announced a jaw-dropping 10,000 layoffs over the whole company.
Also leaving but not, apparently, one of the unlucky 2k who have been sacked, is Mike Ybarra, now erstwhile president of Blizzard - although he only took on the job at the start of 2022. No word yet on where he'll land, but The Verge say that Microsft will pick a new Blizzard president next week. In the meantime, Blizzard's previously-announced survival game has, well, not survived the changes.
These are just the latest in an extensive and ongoing number of layoffs across the industry. I wish I could say I didn't think there will be more in 2024. If you're a developer, I can only hope that your company doesn't feel a need to grow any time soon.
Xbox head Phil Spencer is set to make an announcement regarding the future of platform exclusives tomorrow, and a new Xbox Game Pass perk handily offers three months of Calm Premium.
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.
Xbox will reveal its vision for the future in a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast set to release on Thursday, February 15 at 12pm PT.
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.
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.
Microsoft Corp.'s plans to cut 1,900 jobs from its video game division contradict statements the company made to a US court that it would operate the newly acquired Activision Blizzard Inc. independently, the US Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday.
Microsoft recently cut 1,900 jobs from its gaming division and among the layoffs were many at the recently acquired video game developer Activision Blizzard. Blizzard Entertainment's President Mike Ybarra and co-founder Allen Adham are both departing. The tech giant also announced the cancellation of a Blizzard game, called “Odyssey,” that was already six years in development. On Tuesday, Microsoft reported quarterly earnings, posting its strongest revenue growth since 2022.
Just days after laying off 1,900 workers under the recently acquired Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has become only the second company ever to reach a $3 trillion market value. The recent layoffs by Microsoft were met with inquisition from audiences concerned about the company's profits, though it would seem Microsoft is showing no signs of declining value.
Reikon Games has reportedly laid off 60 to 70 people, equating to 56 percent of the company.
One area hit during the recent round of layoffs at Microsoft were the departments focused on bringing physical Xbox games to retail. On January 25, word began circulating that Microsoft Gaming was laying off a massive 1,900 employees from its 22,000-person team. A large portion of this number apparently is coming from the customer service group at newly acquired Activision Blizzard, which up till now was known for having relatively solid customer service.