Microsoft ended the working week by announcing that it is laying off 1,900 employees at its newly acquired Activision Blizzard studio, and Xbox. The layoffs account for approximately 8% of the total Microsoft Gaming Division, which stands at 22,000 members in total, and also comes after the owner and creator of Windows finally acquired the gaming studio, along with its Call of Duty and Warcraft IPs.
An internal memo from Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO, obtained by The Verge, confirms the Activision Blizzard and Xbox layoffs.
“It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft. 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.
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.
Phil”
It should be noted that the layoffs come at the same time other companies such as Riot Games, Google, Discord, Twitch, and Unity, are conducting similar cost-cutting exercises in their ranks. In light of the layoff, Mike Ybarra, President at Blizzard, also announced that he would be leaving the company after 20 years, while Microsoft plans on naming a new president for the studio by next week.
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
Microsoft also cancelled a survival game that Blizzard had been working on for six years, codenamed Odyssey, alongside its culling of staff members within Activision Blizzard.
(Source: The Verge, Bloomberg)
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