Microsoft Reportedly Lays Off More Employees

Microsoft's Recent Layoffs Continue Across Multiple Divisions

Reports indicate that Microsoft has conducted further layoffs, impacting employees across its gaming, security, and sales divisions. The exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed. Importantly, these job cuts are separate from a previous round of layoffs announced earlier in January.

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

Microsoft itself has been significantly impacted, with ongoing reductions to its Xbox workforce since the beginning of 2024. A major layoff in January 2024 resulted in the loss of 1,900 Xbox division jobs, affecting both Microsoft and acquired subsidiaries like Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax. Further cuts in September impacted 650 corporate and support staff at Activision Blizzard.

According to a Business Insider report (via GamesIndustry.biz), another round of layoffs has occurred. While a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the cuts, the precise number of employees affected remains unconfirmed and described as a "small number". These latest reductions are unrelated to the earlier January layoffs, which reportedly targeted underperforming employees not necessarily connected to the Xbox division.

Microsoft's Layoff Wave and its Implications

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

Previous Microsoft layoffs have impacted various areas, including Xbox's physical retail teams, much of Blizzard's customer service, and internal development studios such as Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob. Blizzard's unannounced survival game, codenamed Project Odyssey, was also canceled. The full extent of the impact of the latest layoffs on Microsoft's Xbox division remains to be seen.