Microsoft this week announced a fresh wave of layoffs across it’s gaming wings, via Xbox, Blizzard and ZeniMax(which owns Bethesda).
Most affected employees are from Blizzard, including it’s president Mike Ybarra, although he’s said to be leaving voluntarily. Microsoft’s CEO told the outgoing employees would receive severance benefits as directed by the local employment laws.
Workforce Layoffs in the Gaming Industry
We haven’t completed a month in 2024, but we continue to see the employee layoff spree being more nasty than ever. Today, Microsoft announced cutting 1,900 roles across Xbox, Blizzard and ZeniMax teams, roughly translating to 8% of the total gaming workforce they have now.
According to a memo observed by The Verge, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told his employees, “As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team“.
Most of these cuts are happening in Blizzard, while some roles in Xbox and ZeniMax teams will be affected, too. This comes a couple of months after Microsoft completed it’s acquisition of Blizzard after several regulatory objections.
Among those leaving the company is Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who is reportedly walking out of his own accord. Thanking all the outgoing employees for their contributions till now, Phil Spencer said Microsoft will provide full support during the transition and pay severance benefits as per the local employment laws.
Furthermore, he said Microsoft will “continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world“.
This is the largest single slate of layoffs in the gaming industry this year, surpassing Unity’s 1,800 job cuts, followed by Twitch, Discord, Riot Games and other studios laying off hundreds of people each.
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