Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has announced the start of layoffs at the company. 8% of Microsoft's gaming division, which totals 22 thousand people, will be reduced.
The Verge was the first to report this, according to which Microsoft Gaming employees received a letter today with the following content authored by Spencer:
It has been just over three months since the Activision, Blizzard and King teams joined Microsoft. Now we are moving forward to 2024. The management of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard have developed a strategy with a sustainable cost structure that aims to support our growing business. We have set priorities, identified areas of duplication, and made sure that we have come to a common denominator in terms of where it is better to grow.
As part of this process, we made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming team by about 1,900 people (there are 22,000 people in the team). The management of the gaming department, with me at its head, will try to carry out layoffs as thoughtfully as possible. The people directly affected by these cuts have played an important role in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and the Xbox teams. They should be proud of all that they have achieved here. We are grateful to them for the creativity, passion and diligence they have put into our games. We will provide full support to those affected by layoffs, including severance pay in accordance with local labor laws. Those whose positions will be directly affected by the dismissal will be informed. We ask that dismissed colleagues be treated with respect and compassion — in accordance with our values.
Speaking of the future: we will continue to invest in areas that will contribute to the growth of our business. We continue to support our strategy of providing as many games as possible to as many players around the world as possible. Despite the fact that this is a difficult moment for our team, I am absolutely confident in your ability to create and develop games that bring players together.