Categories: Techno

Xbox purges (again) its workforce, laying off 650 employees

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Last May, Microsoft announced the closure of four studios at Bethesda, including its one and only Japanese studio, Tango Gameworks. And the American giant is reportedly preparing to close other studios… A few months earlier, in January, Microsoft announced just under 2,000 layoffs at Activision-Blizzard. This represented no less than 9% of the 22,000 employees assigned to video games at Microsoft. And this fall 2024, the American giant confirms its purge, with 650 employees again thanked.

The purge continues at Microsoft

While gamers around the world have not yet finished being outraged by the exorbitant price of the new PS5 Pro, Microsoft is now adding its stone to the edifice (of general indignation) by announcing, not a new console, not a new controller, but a new wave of layoffs.

Phil Spencer was keen to confirm that this will not result in the closure of any studios, and that most of the jobs being cut are for people in corporate and/or support roles at Activision Blizzard.

For Microsoft, this is therefore a matter of continuing the reorganization of the team following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and eliminating any potential duplicate positions since the acquisition. The Xbox bigwig specifies that the employees concerned will receive severance pay, but also outplacement services, not to mention an extension of health care to “facilitate their transition“.

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In total, 650 employees will have to leave the company, or about 3% of the workforce dedicated to video games at Microsoft. This is the third time this year that Microsoft has carried out a large wave of layoffs. Let's remember that despite its good shape, Sony is not left out, with the announcement in February of the layoff of around 900 employees, with the closure of London Studio.

In total, since the start of 2024, the number of layoffs in the video game industry is estimated at more than 12,000. In addition to Microsoft and Sony, the Embracer group has also cut to the quick, as have Take Two and Electronic Arts, not to mention SEGA and Epic Games.

On the Xbox side, let's remember that we have just launched, to fairly general indifference, a trio of new Xboxes, including a 2TB Xbox Series X model, but also a 1TB Xbox Series X Robot White, devoid of any disc drive… just like the future PS5 Pro, whose disc player will be sold as an option (at €119).

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Teilor Stone

Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116