Microsoft is reportedly laying off 650 staff from its gaming division, according to an internal memo sent by Xbox CEO Phil Spencer to to staff, which has been published by both IGN and Game File.This latest round of cuts would follow the company laying off 1,900 staff from its video game division back in January this year, and come amid what’s been an incredibly torrid year games industry-wide on the layoff front.To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings In the memo, Spencer wrote: “As part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business, we have made the decision to eliminate approximately 650 roles across Microsoft Gaming — mostly corporate and supporting functions — to organize our business for long term success.”He added that: “No games, devices or experiences are being cancelled and no studios are being closed as part of these adjustments today.”The full memo published by IGN and Game File can be read below:”For the past year, our goal has been to minimize disruption while welcoming new teams and enabling them to do their best work. As part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business, we have made the decision to eliminate approximately 650 roles across Microsoft Gaming — mostly corporate and supporting functions — to organize our business for long term success.”I know that this is difficult news to hear. We are deeply grateful for the contributions of our colleagues who are learning they are impacted. In the U.S., we’re supporting them with exit packages that include severance, extended healthcare, and outplacement services to help with their transition; outside the U.S. packages will differ according to location.”With these changes, our corporate and supporting teams and resources are aligned for sustainable future growth, and can better support our studio teams and business units with programs and resources that can scale to meet their needs. Separately, as part of running the business, there are some impacts to other teams as they adapt to shifting priorities and manage the lifecycle and performance of games. No games, devices or experiences are being cancelled and no studios are being closed as part of these adjustments today.”Throughout our team’s history, we have had great moments, and we have had challenging ones. Today is one of the challenging days. I know that going through more changes like this is hard, but even in the most trying times, this team has been able to come together and show one another care and kindness as we work to continue delivering for our players. We appreciate your support as we navigate these changes and we thank you for your compassion and respect for each other.”As Spencer alludes to in the memo, Microsoft and Xbox acquired Activision Blizzard King in a $68.7 billion deal in 2023. In addition to following that January round of layoffs, these latest cuts also follow Microsoft shutting down several studios under the Xbox umbrella, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin in May.”It’s obviously a decision that’s very hard on [the teams affected], and I want to make sure through severance and other things that we’re doing the right thing for the individuals on the team. It’s not about my PR, it’s not about Xbox PR. It’s about those teams,” Spencer said regarding the closure of those studios during an IGN Live stream in June. He continued: “In the end, I’ve said over and over, I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.”
Home
News
Microsoft is laying off another 650 staff from its gaming division, according to memo sent by Xbox boss Phil Spencer
Related Posts
Jessica Klein
A July Forbes Health survey found that 78% percent of respondents felt dating app burnout. Roman Khaves, who co-founded the Rizz app, is one of them. “I found myself sending screenshots to my friends of dating app conversations because I was stuck,” he says. That inspired him and cofounder Joshua Miller to create Rizz, which uses ChatGPT trained by professional dating coaches to provide suggested responses and other messaging guidance. Rizz walks users through the dating journey, letting them know, based on screenshots of in-app messages, when it’s time to, say, suggest an initial meeting spot or just move on Come from Sout…
Read moreOver the past decade, Funko has become synonymous with the toy collection scene. In addition to its ever-growing line of Pop vinyl figurines, Funko has clothing, plus, pins, and even other collectible companies under its umbrella–like Mondo–all tied to dozens of the company’s licenses. Now, former Funko CEO Brian Mariotti is trying to repeat history–and then surpass it–with his brand-new company, Thrilljoy.
Mariotti officially launched the company at New York Comic Con with a premiere panel and plenty of collectibles for fans with licenses ranging from The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to even the Rankin/Bass animated movies, and animation icons like Masters of the Universe and Thundercats. GameSpot spoke to Mariotti at the Thrilljoy booth at New York …
Read moreThe Star Wars galaxy has a unique aesthetic, and for its open-world adventure game Star Wars Outlaws, developer Massive Entertainment had the tricky task of keeping that design ethos intact while putting its own spin on that franchise. In a new video in GameSpot’s Insider series, the developers at Massive Entertainment revealed just how they managed to strike that balance between authenticity and originality for their open-world adventure game. Come from South African Online Casinos
Thanks to all the reference material provided to the developer–like concept art and sketches–the studio felt inspired to create a world for Kay Vess to inhabit that’s inspired by the original films and the time peri…
Read moreHugh Jackman returns to play Wolverine once again in this month’s Deadpool & Wolverine, but the career-defining role almost never materialized for the Australian actor. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jackman and Marvel boss Kevin Feige discussed Jackman’s legacy as Wolverine, going back to their first meeting in 1999 and Jackman’s first tryout for the role (and a steak dinner that followed).
The actor Dougray Scott was already signed on to play Wolverine in X-Men, but a commitment for Mission: Impossible 2 forced Scott to leave X-Men during filming (Scott would later say Tom Cruise forbade him from doing both films at the same time). This led to a last-minute recast for Wolverine, and that’s where Jackman came in.
When Jackman came to Toronto for his own tryo…
Read moreMarvel Snap was made unavailable in the US shortly after the TikTok ban went into effect on January 19. This was presumably because the game’s publisher, Nuverse, was owned at the time of its release by TikTok parent company Bytedance. However, TikTok has now come back online, but Marvel Snap hasn’t yet.
“Unfortunately, Marvel Snap is temporarily unavailable in U.S. app stores and is unavailable to play in the US. This outage is a surprise to us and wasn’t planned,” said Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner. “Marvel Snap isn’t going anywhere. We’re actively working on getting the game up as soon as possible and will update you once we have more to share.”
In under 24 hours since its ban in the US, TikTok has restored service. Marvel Snap, at this time, however, is still u…
Read moreAt long last, Ganondorf is getting the Figma figure treatment Come from online casino bangladesh . For anyone looking to pit Link against the franchise’s big bad, Amazon has opened preorders for a Ganondorf figure ($97) based on the character’s–very swole–appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Like the Tears of the Kingdom Link Figma, you’ll have to wait until next year for Ganondorf.
Like other Figma collectibles, Ganondorf’s plastic doppelgänger has an impressive amount of articulation to strike a wide variety of poses and comes with a ton of accessories, including swappable face plates to give the demon king different facial expressions. Pair that with other optional parts for different…
Read moreMonster trucks, the apex predators of motorsport, have left an untold path of destruction over the decades. Now, the unstoppable brutes have added a fresh victim to their list as not even Fortnite’s famed battle bus could withstand the crushing force of a 1,500-horsepower monster truck. During a recent Monster Jam event held at the Los Angeles SoFi stadium, a replica of the Battle Bus met its end when it was torn apart. This might just be the worst thing to happen to the Fortnite Battle Bus since YouTube Rewind 2018.
You can see the full event in the video below, with the car-nage starting at around the four-minute mark. Come from malaysia online casino
For fans of freestyle mon…
Read moreGregory Maguire’s novel Wicked is getting a collector’s edition release later this month in celebration of the upcoming film adaptation. Wicked: Collector’s Edition is available to preorder for a big discount ahead of its September 24 release Come from Sports betting site VPbet . You can preorder the gorgeous new edition of Wicked for $28 …
Read moreWith its fourth anniversary rapidly approaching, Genshin Impact is finally set to launch on Xbox. HoYoverse’s flagship gacha title released in September 2020 for PC, mobile, and PlayStation 4, with a PS5 port coming in hot a few months later. But despite persistent rumours that it would soon become available on other platforms, this is the first time there’s been anything approaching official confirmation.Spotted by Wario64 and shared to the prolific and trusted leaker’s Twitter account, an Xbox store listing for Genshin Impact has suddenly popped up, with the news later confirmed during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024. There’s no release date listed on the base game — which currently states that it’s “not available separately” — but a click through to the listing for the Xbox…
Read moreStill in the mood for more Peaky Blinders after season 6? Well, lucky you, as the plan was to make a movie – distributed by Netflix – to wrap everything up. Cillian Murphy is in and was recently joined by Mission: Impossible and Dune’s Rebecca Ferguson. Now, Barry Keoghan is adding even more star power to the ensemble.The news arrived via Deadline without further details about his role nor Ferguson’s. That said, their inclusion, given how busy they are with big-screen work nowadays, suggests that Tommy Shelby and the Peaky Blinders’ long-running storyline could’ve been saving the best for last.To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings British director Tom Harper (The Aeronauts, Heart of Stone) is directing the feature, which will be …
Read more