Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off More Employees

Summary

• Microsoft has reportedly laid off more employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions.
• It's unclear how many employees have been impacted.
• These new layoffs are also unconnected to a previous round of cuts announced earlier in January.

Microsoft has reportedly laid off even more employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions, adding to the ongoing wave of job cuts in the video game industry. 2024 has been particularly challenging, with major companies like Microsoft announcing significant layoffs. These cuts have affected both large developers and smaller indie studios, including notable names like IllFonic, the developer behind Predator: Hunting Grounds, and People Can Fly, known for Outriders. Earlier this month, Rocksteady also announced layoffs following the mixed reception of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Microsoft, one of the biggest companies affected by recent layoffs, has been reducing its Xbox workforce since the beginning of 2024. In January, Microsoft announced the layoff of 1,900 staff members from its Xbox gaming division, including employees at acquired subsidiaries such as Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. In September, another 650 employees were let go from corporate and support positions at Activision Blizzard.

According to a new report from Business Insider (via GamesIndustry.biz), Microsoft may have initiated another round of layoffs. A Microsoft spokesperson mentioned that these latest cuts would affect a small number of staff members, though the exact number remains unspecified. Importantly, these new layoffs are separate from an earlier round of cuts announced earlier in the month, which targeted underperforming workers not necessarily connected to Xbox.

Microsoft Could Be Laying Off More Xbox Employees

Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are particularly significant given the company's recent acquisitions of major publishers like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. This comes shortly after Microsoft reached a $3 trillion market value following the massive January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of cuts led to complaints from the FTC, which attempted to use the layoffs at Activision Blizzard as a basis to challenge or reverse Microsoft's high-profile merger with the Call of Duty publisher.

Previous Microsoft layoffs have impacted various sectors, including Xbox’s physical retail teams, most of Blizzard’s customer service team, and in-house developers such as Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Additionally, Blizzard’s unnamed survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was canceled amid these layoffs. The number of employees affected by the latest reported layoffs at Microsoft remains unconfirmed, leaving the potential impact on the Xbox gaming division uncertain.