On Wednesday, Microsoft began its latest round of layoffs and cancellations, confirming swirling suspicion and speculation from just one week ago.
According to Bloomberg, Microsoft’s latest move will lay off 10% of staff at Candy Crush developer King, as well as thousands of other positions, namely within Microsoft’s gaming divisions.
In a statement shared by CNBC, Microsoft said it will lay off upwards of 9,000 employees globally, with affected positions spanning experience levels and internal teams. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company and teams for success in a dynamic marketplace,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC via email.
Additionally, the global enterprise cancelled its upcoming Rare-developed game Everwild, as well as an MMORPG from The Elder Scrolls Online studio Zenimax. According to a BlueSky post from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the latter — codenamed “Blackbird” — had been under development since 2018.
In another post regarding the brand’s “sloppy and chaotic” layoffs, Schreier says some Zenimax employees are “now watching their Slack accounts abruptly get locked out. No message from HR, no word on whether they still have a job, just an ominous Slack deactivation.”
Microsoft’s layoffs are the latest in a long line of recent terminations, brand- and industry-wide. Earlier this year, the Xbox parent company cut 3% of its global workforce, resulting in the release of more than 6,000 workers. Alongside continued layoffs are incremental price hikes, affecting games as well as years-old hardware.
In a memo obtained by IGN, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told Xbox staff that the company would “end or decrease work in certain areas of the business” in an effort to “increase agility and effectiveness.”
“Today we are sharing decisions that will impact colleagues across our organization,” Spencer’s memo reads. “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. Out of respect for those impacted today, the specifics of today’s notifications and any organizational shifts will be shared by your team leaders in the coming days.”
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A lifelong gamer raised on classic titles like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Croc, Stephanie brings her expertise of gaming and pop culture to deliver unique, refreshing views on the world of video games, complete with references to absurd and obscure media.
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