Microsoft Lays Off 1900 Workers From Its Video Game Department

Masssive lay offs is a bane of the industry, with numerous video game and esport companies parting ways with dozens and hundreds of workers across the globe. After the statement from Riot Games a couple of days back, today another video game industry giant announced massive cut in its workforce. Microsoft lays off 1900 people from its video game department, following $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. A statement by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, per IGN, says:

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 1,900 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.

Microsoft will provide “full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws.” 

Later, Blizzard Entertainment President and former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra announced he's leaving the company via social media post.

No matter how successful year 2023 has been in terms of video game releases, constant cuts and studio closings is a disturbing trend, which sadly continues in 2024. It's hard to tell the exact figures, but estimated numbers of people laid off last year throughout gaming industry exceeds 10000, and it looks like this year won't be much better.