Apparently doing “better than ever” doesn’t create job security at the big corporation.
There were rumors that people were being let go this week at Microsoft, and this morning on July 2nd the rumor sadly came true. Insiders are pointing at potentially over 9000 people losing their jobs across all of Microsoft. That relates to about 4% of the total workforce at Microsoft, and this comes after recent layoffs in Spring which totaled 7,000 people (or 3%). The total number of layoffs is over 20,000 people for the corporation within a span of a year. And with several corporations threatening even more layoffs with the use of AI, this isn’t looking good at all for great people losing their jobs.
How many of these people will be directly tied to Xbox is unknown, but already multiple studios are either being shut down entirely or losing over 50% of their staff.
Xbox CEO, Phil Spencer, sent out a letter to employees stating that the cuts target slimming down teams and management for “more effective” teams. However the letter also explains “I recognize that these changes come at a time when we have more players, games, and gaming hours than ever before. Our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger,” he said.
So it appears that while Xbox is seeing success, it means nothing for job security. Microsoft is currently ranked as the second most valuable company on the planet, and recently acquired multiple companies for billions of dollars. They’ve also invested heavily in the AI race.
Here are some of the cuts:
Raven Software – Esteemed support studio for Call of Duty is seeing significant cuts. They co-developed the last Black Ops and are currently working on the next iteration. They were originally the season pass developers of the series.
High Moon – Similar to Raven Software, is a support studio for Call of Duty, the total of layoffs is not currently reported.
Sledgehammer – A third Call of Duty support studio also stated they got hit with layoffs.
Turn 10 – The highly praised developers of Forza are seeing what is rumored to be around 50% of their studio let go.
Rare – Rare seems to be having a terrible time at Microsoft with another wave of layoffs impacting them. Microsoft has also canceled their game Everwild entirely. While this may be more impacted by the studio issues itself, considering the game development was rebooted and stalled again, it still sucks to see considering they operate one of Xbox’s more successful titles, Sea of Thieves.
Zenimax Online – The parent company that Microsoft recently acquired is seeing their MMO studio see cuts. Their unannounced MMO game, a project titled Blackbird, was canceled.
The Initiative- They were currently making one of the best looking Xbox exclusive games and the entire studio has now been shut down. Perfect Dark was canceled, deep into development, which included a partnership with Crystal Dynamics.
Undead Labs – Unclear how many people are being impacted at the studio, they did promise that State of Decay was currently still in development and not impacted by the canceled games.
It sucks to see some great looking games go, but it sucks even more to see talent doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing and still being let go. What are you even supposed to do at that point? You make critically acclaimed games, grow the corporations numbers, meet sales targets, and still get walked out the door. It’s not just gaming either.
We wish those let go the best of luck, and hope you find a job at a company that appreciates your talents.
