Microsoft planning ‘major’ Xbox layoffs next week

Microsoft is readying to chopped jobs successful the company’s Xbox gaming business, arsenic aboriginal arsenic adjacent week. I first reported successful Notepad earlier this period that Microsoft was readying Xbox layoffs “potentially by the extremity of the month,” and present Bloomberg says a circular of “major layoffs” is owed adjacent week.

I recognize managers astatine Microsoft person been briefed astir Xbox cuts and wider layoffs successful different parts of Microsoft’s businesses. The upcoming cuts are also expected to deed Microsoft’s income organization, conscionable astatine the commencement of a caller fiscal year.

Microsoft is readying to restructure parts of its Xbox concern arsenic it looks up to its next procreation of consoles. One root tells maine Microsoft is restructuring Xbox organisation crossed cardinal Europe, resulting successful immoderate Xbox operations ceasing successful immoderate regions.

These latest layoffs volition beryllium successful summation to the 6,000 cuts Microsoft already made successful May, and connected apical of the more than 300 impacted earlier this month, too. Any large Xbox cuts volition beryllium the latest successful a bid of large gaming-related layoffs implicit the past 18 months, aft Microsoft laid disconnected 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees successful January 2024 and past successful May 2024 the company closed respective crippled studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin.

Microsoft also laid disconnected 650 much Xbox employees in September, and also cut astir 1,000 employees from its HoloLens and Azure unreality teams successful June past year.