On July 2nd, Microsoft announced sweeping layoffs affecting as many as 9,000 employees, and they had a big impact on the company’s Xbox studios. Microsoft canceled Perfect Dark from The Initiative and closed the studio. Rare’s Everwild, announced in 2019, was canceled, too. And Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios will lose more than 70 employees.
“We must make choices now for continued success in future years and a key part of that strategy is the discipline to prioritize the strongest opportunities,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a memo to employees. “We will protect what is thriving and concentrate effort on areas with the greatest potential, while delivering on the expectations the company has for our business. This focused approach means we can deliver exceptional games and experiences for players for generations to come.”
A rumor was circulating that Spencer was planning to retire after Microsoft launched its next generation of Xbox, but the company tells The Verge that Spencer isn’t retiring as the chief of Xbox “anytime soon.“
Here’s all of our coverage of the layoffs.
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Microsoft is laying off as many as 9,000 employees
Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty ImagesMicrosoft confirmed that it’s laying off as many as 9,100 employees, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in yet another round of cuts this year, reports The Seattle Times. Employees in Microsoft’s Xbox division, known as Microsoft Gaming, are being hit hard by these layoffs, although exact numbers and divisions are not yet known.
Xbox leader Phil Spencer said in a message to the team, “To position Gaming for enduring success and allow us to focus on strategic growth areas, we will end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness.”
Read Article >- “Romero Games is not closed.”
The studio has responded to reports from last week claiming that, after funding for its current game was pulled, it was closing down altogether. Now the developer says that it is “doing everything in our power to ensure that it does not come to that.” And there’s more good news: it appears there’s some publisher interest in keeping the game alive.
Romero Games (@romerogames.bsky.social)[bsky.app]
Laid-off workers should use AI to manage their emotions, says Xbox producer
Image: Cath Virginia / The VergeThe sweeping layoffs announced by Microsoft this week have been especially hard on its gaming studios, but one executive producer at Xbox has a solution to “help reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss”: seek advice from AI chatbots.
In a now-deleted LinkedIn post captured by Aftermath, Xbox Game Studios’ Matt Turnbull said that he would be “remiss in not trying to offer the best advice I can under the circumstances.” The circumstances here being a slew of game cancellations, services being shuttered, studio closures, and job cuts across key Xbox divisions as Microsoft lays off as many as 9,100 employees across the company.
Read Article >- Update: Romero Games is closing.
The dominoes from Microsoft’s layoffs continue to fall. Several games have been cancelled or their development halted with other studios, like The Initiative being permanently shuttered. Now Romero Games has announced that due to the layoffs, Microsoft has cancelled funding for its game. Update July 3rd: According to several employees’ posts on LinkedIn, Romero Games is closing outright due to the layoffs.
In the announcement, Brenda Romero wrote that the unannounced game had been progressing well. “We are incredibly proud of the work being done and the of the talented team behind it,” Romero wrote. “The best we’ve worked with.”
Blizzard is winding down support for its Warcraft mobile game
Illustration by William Joel / The VergeMicrosoft’s layoff of roughly 9,000 employees is continuing to have downstream effects at the company’s subsidiaries. Aftermath reports that as many as 100 developers at Blizzard have been impacted, and as a result the studio is winding down development on its mobile tower defense game Warcraft Rumble.
In an announcement, Blizzard wrote that while the game will not be abandoned entirely, the company will cease development on any new content. “Moving forward, we’ll continue supporting Rumble with updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes, but no new content. ”
Read Article >- The president of ZeniMax Online Studios is leaving.
Matt Firor is departing “later this month” after more than 18 years of heading up the organization, he says.
- Microsoft’s Xbox cuts have hit key areas.
News of Microsoft’s major layoffs today keep rolling in, as the company informs around 9,000 employees of the cuts. I’ve heard from sources that the Xbox user research team has been hit hard, with nearly half the team affected. It’s a key team that focuses on ensuring quality across Xbox games, the platform, and developer tools. Even a product lead for Xbox Family and child safety has been laid off.
Jay Peters and Tom Warren
Phil Spencer isn’t retiring as the chief of Xbox ‘anytime soon’
Image: Laura Normand / The VergeMicrosoft says that Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO and the head of Xbox, isn’t retiring “anytime soon.” The company has responded to rumors of Spencer’s retirement, which have spread online today following Microsoft’s major layoffs.
“Phil is not retiring anytime soon,” says Kari Perez, head of Xbox communications, in a statement to The Verge. The denial comes after Call of Duty leaker GhostOfHope claimed “Phil Spencer will be retiring from his role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming after the launch of the next generation Xbox” and that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Read Article >
Tom Warren and Jay Peters
Microsoft cancels its Perfect Dark and Everwild Xbox games
Image: Xbox Game StudiosMicrosoft is canceling its Perfect Dark and Everwild games as part of sweeping cuts to its Xbox division. Matt Booty, Xbox president of game content and studios, revealed that Microsoft will be closing The Initiative, the studio behind Perfect Dark, in an internal memo to Xbox employees today.
The cuts are part of layoffs affecting around 9,000 employees across Microsoft, with Turn 10 Studios, the developer behind Forza Motorsport, also hit hard by today’s layoffs.
Read Article >Tom Warren and Jay Peters
Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport developer hit hard by Xbox cuts
Image: Xbox Game StudiosMicrosoft announced layoffs today affecting as many as 9,000 employees, and as part of the changes, more than 70 people will be let go at Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The cuts were made on a call with Microsoft HR representatives this morning, and are hitting the “vast majority” of the studio. One source described the layoffs as leaving enough people behind to keep Forza Motorsport up and running.
Read Article >
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