Just four months after the merger with Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft has announced that it will lay off 1.900 Activision-Blizzard and Xbox employees.
In a new report from The Verge, these layoffs hit roughly 8% over Microsoft's overall gaming division. According to the report, the deep cut in the workforce mainly affects those at Activision-Blizzard, but also some employees at Zenimax (Bethesda) and Xbox are affected by the latest in a long line of layoffs in the tech and gaming industry. The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Xbox boss Phil Spencer, addressing the "painful decision" for this latest wave of layoffs at Microsoft:
"It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft", Spencer's memo reads. "As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth."
The Xbox head adds, "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. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible. The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here. We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws. Those whose roles will be impacted will be notified, and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with the respect and compassion that is consistent with our values.
Looking ahead, we’ll continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I’m as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together."
The Verge's report also mentions that Blizzard president Mike Ybarra will be leaving the company. For those in the unknown, Ybarra left Microsoft in 2019 to join Blizzard after being with Microsoft for nearly 20 years. On X, Ybarra has posted a message about the layoffs and his departure:
I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day and my energy and support will be focused on all those amazing individuals impacted – this is in no way a reflection…
— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) January 25, 2024
As part of the changes at Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard, Blizzard's upcoming survival game "Odyssey" has been canceled. Some of the people who worked on that project have been moved to other unannounced projects in development at Blizzard.
One year ago, Microsoft announced it would slash around 10K jobs. This is another sad day for those affected and the gaming industry as a whole after Riot's layoffs, People Can Fly's layoffs, and the potential closure of Piranha Bytes. We can only hope that those impacted will soon find new positions.
