Microsoft executives have rolled out another round of layoffs at Xbox as multiple employees have reported they no longer are employed by the company.
A screenshot from Halo 2: Anniversary (2020), 343 Industries
X user Jessabirdy announced she had been laid off writing, “Sad to announce that my role with Microsoft has been eliminated. To all those who have been a part of Team Xbox. Thank you. Hope I made you proud. <3”
Jessabirdy on X
Cory Ebert, a Technical Program Manager, announced on LinkedIn, “Well, this isn’t how I thought today would go. After nearly 15 years (seriously, two months shy), Microsoft has made the decision to end our working relationship effective immediately due to changes in the business direction and landscape. I have marked myself as open to work and am available for all opportunities that my network may know of. This was a dream career that enabled me to do many amazing things and I will always look back on the last 15 years fondly regardless of what happens next.”
Cory Ebert on LinkedIn
Angela Visness, a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, also posted on LinkedIn, “Hello friends – In light of the recent layoffs at Microsoft, my position was eliminated, and I am now on the lookout for my next career adventure. It was an incredible ride and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities I was given.”
She added, “To my amazing colleagues and mentors, thank you for your support, guidance, and friendship. Working alongside such talented individuals has been an honor, and I have learned so much from each of you.”
Angela Visness on LinkedIn
Senior Editor at The Verge, Tom Warren also reports, “more Xbox layoffs happening this week.”
Tom Warren on X
READ: Nintendo Banned Switch 2 Owner After Playing Used Games — Reversed Ban Quickly After Appeal
Microsoft previously announced in January it was laying off around 1,900 employees after it acquired Activision Blizzard, the owner of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.
At the time, Gaming at Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer explained the layoffs in a memo detailing that it was to align “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.”
He continued, “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.”
Phil Spencer. Photo Credit: eVRydayVR, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
In March, Spencer would share more details in an interview with Polygon, where he explained that the layoffs were a mix of what he sees as a larger trend of a stagnant and even shrinking market as well as conditions that were unique to Activision Blizzard, King, and Xbox.
He shared, “It’s a little bit of both. But I’ll say the thing that has me most concerned for the industry is the lack of growth. And when you have an industry that is projected to be smaller next year in terms of players and dollars, and you get a lot of publicly traded companies that are in the industry that have to show their investors growth — because why else does somebody own a share of someone’s stock if it’s not going to grow? — the side of the business that then gets scrutinized is the cost side.”
“Because if you’re not going to grow the revenue side, then the cost side becomes challenged,” he added.
A screenshot from Call of Duty: Warzone (2020), Raven
Spencer went on, ““We’re a business. I’ve said over and over. I don’t get any luxury of not having to run a profitable growing business inside of Microsoft. And we are that today. But just across the industry — you mentioned it, and in sitting here at GDC, I reflect on friends of mine in the industry that have been displaced and lost their jobs and how just, I don’t want this industry to be a place where people can’t, with confidence, build a career.”
“So that’s why I keep pivoting back to: How does this industry get back to growth? But to your question, for us at Xbox or any of the teams that are out there, it is really an outcome of an industry that’s not growing. It can grow and it will grow again. But you see this time right now and the implications have human impact. And we should all reflect on that and think about it,” Spencer asserted.
A screenshot from World of Warcraft: The War Within Alpha (2024), Blizzard
As for how he plans to solve what he views as a growth problem, he plans to eschew console exclusivity. He said, “I will say, every decision we make today and tomorrow is for the better of Xbox. I know sometimes things get weaponized, that there’s some evil in the background that’s making us do things — ‘Phil hates exclusives and that’s why we’re like PlayStation and Switch now.’ Every decision we make is to make Xbox stronger in the long run. It doesn’t mean everyone’s going to agree with every decision we make. But it is fundamental for how we make decisions.”
“This notion that Xbox can only be this one device that plugs into a television isn’t something we see in the Gen Z research. Because nothing else is like that for them,” he continued. “Some of them will have an iPhone, some will have an Android, but all the games and everything is the same. I can still get to TikTok on both of them, at least for now. All of their stuff is available wherever they want. So for Xbox, our brand pivot — as we attract and maintain relevance with a younger audience — is ‘Xbox is a place where I can find the great games I want to.”
A screenshot from South of Midnight (TBA), Compulsion Games
In an interview with Games Industry, Xbox’s Head of Gaming For Everyone & Sustainability Katy Jo Wright promoted the company’s Gaming for Everyone Product Inclusion Framework, that the company developed in 2019 and is now making public for other developers to follow.
She explained the purpose of the framework to Games Industry, “If you don’t intentionally include, you will unintentionally exclude. That is how we are as human beings. There is no shame in that. If you want to include, you have to be intentional about that.”
A screenshot of Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark (2024), The Initiative
The company also employs Kelly Lombardi who posted to X in March, “Raise your hand if you’re not a white man and you buy video games.”
She added, “(No hate to white dudes, it’s just another day in the gaming industry that minorities have to fight to prove they exist).”
Kelly Lombardi on X
X CEO Elon Musk condemned Lombardi and Microsoft posting, “It should not be acceptable for any company in the gaming industry to be racist & sexist against ‘white guys.’”
It should not be acceptable for any company in the gaming industry to be racist & sexist against “white guys” https://t.co/FavbIIYuFa
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 28, 2024
Not only does the company employ individuals like Kelly Lombardi, but it uses its video games to push PRIDE. The company’s Halo X account did this at the beginning of last month writing, ““Let’s stand together in honoring our LGBTQIA+ community and forging a future of unity and acceptance for all. #Pride2024.”
Halo on X
What do you make of this new round of layoffs at Microsoft and Xbox?
NEXT: James Gunn Instagram Follow Sparks Wonder Woman Casting Rumors—But He Says It’s Not What Fans Think
