Microsoft is planning "major" cuts across Xbox starting next week, according to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Reporter Jason Schreier notes that it's not clear exactly which teams are being affected, but that the cuts are expected to be substantial.
This will be the fourth major round of gaming-focused layoffs at Microsoft over the last two years, with around 1900 employees cut in January 2024 (mostly from Activision Blizzard King), while three ZeniMax Media studios were shuttered in May 2024, with another round of Activision-focused layoffs seeing 650 more employees cut in September 2024.
In Microsoft's most recent financial quarter ending March 31, 2025, the company saw gaming revenue up 5% year-over-year, driven by growth in Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft as a whole saw $70.1 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 11% year-over-year, with net income of $25.8 billion, up 18% year-over-year.
People make games
When I look at the past couple of months for Xbox, it's been a downright onslaught on of different games and ports.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered saw a surprise reveal and simultaneous launch and was the best-selling game of April in the U.S.
Forza Horizon 5 was brought to PlayStation 5 in April and became an instant success, even being the most-downloaded PlayStation 5 game for May in the U.S, while DOOM: The Dark Ages launched and reached 3 million players.
These are just a handful of highlights, but they were all only possible because of all the hands involved. Games are more complicated than ever, and it takes hundreds of workers to make games happen.
No matter what teams are hit next week, that'll be impacted. It's the latest tiring episode in the ongoing story of layoffs across the gaming industry, and it's something I'm beyond sick of.
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