Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off More Employees

Microsoft's Recent Layoffs: Further Cuts Across Multiple Divisions

Reports indicate that Microsoft has conducted another round of layoffs, affecting employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The exact number of employees impacted remains undisclosed. Significantly, these job cuts are separate from the layoffs announced earlier in January and those in September.

The gaming industry has faced considerable turmoil in recent years, with numerous companies, including Microsoft, implementing significant workforce reductions in 2024. This trend has impacted both large studios and smaller independent developers, with recent examples including IllFonic (Predator: Hunting Grounds) and People Can Fly (Outriders). Rocksteady also announced layoffs following the mixed reception of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Microsoft's own restructuring began earlier in 2024, with the January announcement of 1,900 job losses within its Xbox gaming division, encompassing acquired subsidiaries like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. A further 650 corporate and support roles at Activision Blizzard were eliminated in September.

A Business Insider report (via GamesIndustry.biz) suggests a new wave of layoffs, though a Microsoft spokesperson stated the impact would be limited to a small number of employees, without providing specifics. These latest cuts are reportedly unrelated to the earlier January layoffs, which targeted underperforming employees potentially outside the Xbox division.

The Broader Context of Microsoft's Restructuring

Microsoft's ongoing layoffs are particularly noteworthy given its recent acquisitions of major publishers such as Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, and its achievement of a $3 trillion market valuation shortly after the substantial January 2024 layoffs. The initial wave of job cuts drew criticism from the FTC, which attempted to use the Activision Blizzard layoffs to impede or reverse Microsoft's acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher.

Previous Microsoft restructuring efforts have affected Xbox's physical retail teams, most of Blizzard's customer service team, and internal development studios like Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Blizzard's unannounced survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was also canceled.

The scale of the latest round of layoffs remains unconfirmed, leaving the ultimate impact on the Xbox gaming division uncertain.