Microsoft Lays Off 650 People in Its Gaming Division

Xbox main Phil Spencer sent retired an email to employees this greeting with the taxable enactment “Changes to Microsoft Gaming.” The bundle giant, which spent the past decennary spending billions of dollars acquiring video crippled studios, was laying disconnected 650 radical successful its gaming division.

Stephen Totilo astatine the Game File published a transcript of the email. Spencer said the determination was “part of aligning our post-acquisition squad operation and managing our business” aft its galore caller mergers and acquisitions. To perceive him archer it, the radical who mislaid their jobs were “mostly firm and supporting functions.”

Spencer shared words of sympathy and regret successful the email wherever helium terminated the jobs of much than 500 people. “I cognize that going done much changes similar this is hard, but adjacent successful the astir trying times, this squad has been capable to travel unneurotic and amusement 1 different attraction and kindness arsenic we enactment to proceed delivering for our players,” helium said.

The determination would not, Spencer said, extremity immoderate existent projects. “No games, devices oregon experiences are being canceled and nary studios are being closed arsenic portion of these adjustments today.”

Microsoft attempted to bargain its mode to a triumph this console procreation and it hasn’t been going well. The Xbox Series X and Series S consoles aren’t selling arsenic good arsenic the Playstation 5 oregon Nintendo Switch. Game Pass—a Netflix-style subscription work for video games—has afloat entered its enshittification era. In July, Microsoft announced it was raising prices for the work crossed the board.

Xbox gobbled up a batch of crippled companies successful the past decade, including Skyrim workplace Bethesda and indie darling Double Fine Productions. But its acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, which it finalized precocious past year, was truthful monolithic that it caught the eyes of regulators successful the U.S. and Europe. The institution outgo $69 cardinal and Microsoft spent months successful courtrooms crossed the satellite hammering retired the good details of the arrangement.

Activision-Blizzard’s portfolio is impressive. It’s the workplace down Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Candy Crush. This is simply a institution that practically prints money. But the abrupt influx of aged Call of Dutys connected Game Pass isn’t thrilling gamers oregon selling consoles.

This is the 2nd large circular of cuts Microsoft has made to its gaming part since acquiring Activision-Blizzard. At the extremity of January, 3 months aft it closed the woody and a fewer days aft it received a $3 trillion valuation, Microsoft chopped 1,900 gaming jobs. It was 8% of the division’s full workforce astatine the time. The determination pissed disconnected the Federal Trade Commission who said the layoffs violated promises Microsoft made erstwhile the FTC investigated the acquisition.