Xbox layoffs and studio closures may begin within days
 |
| Xbox chief executive Asha Sharma Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
There's no other way of putting it: Things are looking grim at Xbox right now.
A couple of different reports paint a bleak picture of the Microsoft-owned video game console manufacturer. Chiefly, The Verge reported that large-scale layoffs and even studio closures could happen around July 6. This could include Arkane Studios, the French developer behind Dishonored, Prey, and the upcoming Marvel Blade game, which still exists only in vague teaser form. The Verge's report suggests Microsoft could cancel Blade, which was set to launch in 2027.
SEE ALSO:Did PlayStation outsell Xbox 8 to 1 with 'GTA VI' pre-orders? Microsoft rebuts claims.
Arkane joins a list of at least four other Xbox subsidiary studios that could either be shut down or, potentially, spun off and sold to someone else. It's unclear how likely the latter possibility is, though. One other studio on that list includes State of Decay developer Undead Labs, per Gamesbeat. The next game in that series, State of Decay 3, has been in development for years and is set to launch in 2027 at the time of this publication.
Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory round out the list of studios that might cease to exist as soon as next week, per previous reports. One of Xbox's major issues during the last decade or so has been a distinct inability to consistently ship first-party games, and shutting down or spinning off several studios is unlikely to help in that regard. Layoffs in other parts of the Xbox business that are not otherwise shutting down are also likely, per GamesBeat.
All of these developments follow a leadership change at Xbox earlier this year, though the problems go back much farther than that. New Xbox head executive Asha Sharma has made some small symbolic overtures to win hearts and minds, such as confirming the existence of a next-gen Xbox console, Project Helix, in development. However, Xbox's reputation among video game enthusiasts is at a historical low, thanks to rampant layoffs, a lack of compelling software, and Microsoft's very controversial relationship with the Israeli military.
Fuck Microsoft.
ReplyDeleteA lot of layoffs might mean hopefully some talented people join indie studios with huge potential, sad short term but hopefully some more interesting stuff comes out.
ReplyDeleteA layoff event? Holy shit, I hope I can get tickets to that!
ReplyDeleteTicket master website already sold out 😞
DeleteI know it’s not easy but would like to see a lot of them get together and create new studios out of this.
ReplyDeleteI'm just glad toys for bob escaped.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping some of these other studios can make it out alive too.
DeleteI hope that undead labs makes it out for the sake of state of decay, but the writing is on the wall for them. They've only developed 2 published games total and those are both now old (SOD 2013 and SOD2 2018). and now we are in mid 2026 with no state of decay 3 but they keep randomly showing the tinies trickles of information only. I wouldn't be surprised if they are shut down and SOD3 is cancelled.
Deletewtf is this
ReplyDeleteFucking insane. Give these excellent studios time, and let em cook.
ReplyDeleteSome of them have been cooking since the Xbox One days to be fair. How long do they need?
DeleteThere's definitely some blame to be passed around. But I imagine if these studios didn't bleed people and knowledge, and were supported properly, they'd make stuff faster.
Delete144000
ReplyDeleteI live near Xbox headquarters and the vibe here is atrosicous so I hope not.
ReplyDeleteThe largest ones have been 50,000-60,000 people laid off, non gaming. Not sure what the biggest gaming ones have been.
ReplyDeleteI’m guessing around a 10% reduction in total staffing. If it’s 20% I would probably shit a brick, 30% I expect to see Xbox spun-off and sold before Project Helix touches a shelf, if it doesn’t get cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil Spencer! You told us acquiring Bethesda and purchasing tons of randoms studios to bloat gamepass was a GREAT idea though!
ReplyDeleteThat’s a bummer. The best we can hope for is maybe they finally decided to close 343i, and the layoffs are more minor across other studios.
ReplyDeleteSo what are the odds this has been years in the making and Asha Sharma is the sacrificial lamb sent out to be the face of it? Not saying she's not also calling some of these shots now, but I'm just wondering if the writing was on the wall internally for much longer or if things have just gotten especially bad with ramageddon
ReplyDeleteHopefully Aaron Greenberg gets the boot too. Worst PR marketing guy ever. Good riddance.
ReplyDeletehttps://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExNmtuejI1anlneGN1a3cyNG5ydWx5eThqOXYwMHgxeXQ1NHRwdzhpeCZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/sb4VRhSTWhOFlbO9Kh/giphy.gif
But Matt Booty is fine?
DeleteNo hopefully not he should get the same treatment to gtfo. Incompetent as well.
DeleteIs this the guy who couldn't get Duke Nukem Forever off the ground for almost 20 years?
ReplyDeleteDuke Nukem For At Least 20 Years
DeleteThere is 0% chance he has a full list of Xbox studio closures. He may have a list of some of the studios in danger of closing but no way he has a final list. A lot of IC and Managers inside Microsoft/Xbox don't even know the final list.
ReplyDeleteRemember when all the idiots were cheering for Xbox buying Activision/Blizzard
ReplyDeleteWay to go Phil
ReplyDeleteThey're genuinely braindead for buying up all those studios and IPs
ReplyDeleteHmm I wonder if anyone can look into documenting how many laid off employees were unionised/thinking of unionising
ReplyDeleteHow are they calculating this?
ReplyDeleteWhen the Embracer Group was all said and done, something like 20,000+ developers, over a dozen studios closed, an unknown number of projects were cancelled, and who could even calculate the number of contractors that were displaced.
Are we saying that this is the largest event in history at 1 company? Because I struggle to picture more people being displaced in total than the Embracer Group’s failure.
Xbox currently has about 20k employees total, so no they can't really beat that number.
DeleteMaybe they mean the most on a single day?
It has to be that.
DeleteHope they start their own studios with amazing unique IP and thrive. Xbox leadership will go down as the worst ever. The Phil Spencer era especially
ReplyDeleteABK really screwed them over didn't it
ReplyDeleteI wonder if PGG will one of those if Fable isn't a success?
ReplyDeleteThey will be the last studio to be in trouble considering they are like the only Xbox studio that is consistently performing.
DeleteThis is mostly hate engagement again. Wish this crap would stop. It’s obviously a bad thing, but you can tell which networks are using this to prop up other companies.
ReplyDeleteIts now an event its so big.
ReplyDeletedamn now there hype articles for layoffs?
ReplyDeletePeople are hyping this up like it's E3
DeleteThis is all 343's fault, I feel it.
ReplyDeleteBy law can't you only lay off a certain amount
ReplyDeleteAnd what's that?
DeleteDon't know, but I'm pretty sure over a certain % something happens
DeleteI don't think that's accurate...
DeleteThey will have nothing left sadly
ReplyDeleteAs much money Microsoft has lost over the last month not surprised https://x.com/Barchart/status/2071862160020439083
ReplyDeleteThat's because of ai
DeleteGeorge knows a lot about laying people off.
ReplyDeleteHype Hopefully Microsoft will buy Sega 🎉
ReplyDeleteKorg: [Asgard is now in ruins] The damage is not too bad. As long as the foundations are still strong, we can rebuild this place. It will become a haven for all peoples and aliens of the universe.
ReplyDelete[Asgard explodes]
Korg: Oof. Now those foundations are gone. Sorry.
Why is the guy who murdered Duke Nukem an insider now?
ReplyDeleteBroussard kept it on a decade-long life support. Randy Pitchford is really the guy who murdered it.
DeleteMicrosoft is definitely cutting all of this to funnel all that money to their AI money sink.
ReplyDeleteHow are they going to make money if they fire everybody? AI?
ReplyDeleteXbox needs to create an environment where more Forza/Gears of War/Fable are being made, while less games that nobody cares about are being worked on.
DeleteThere's no room for original IPs. Only sequels, prequels, spin-offs, reboots, remakes, and ports are allowed.
DeleteBecause they have more studios and employees than everyone else?
ReplyDeleteJason wasn't kidding when he used the word 'bloodbath'.
ReplyDeleteWhy are we getting marketing abt impending layoffs 💀
ReplyDeleteBecause these people need clicks
DeleteProbably to prepare you mentally.
DeleteGood, hopefully we see real developers and less of these woke developers
ReplyDeleteI just can't take these comments seriously. What's your idea of woke?
DeleteI am heartbroken by all this. Shattered.
ReplyDeleteThere's speculation that id Software aren't even safe from this. They could also be closed
ReplyDeleteWell deserved after fucking around with Quake Champions for a decade.
DeleteWell, Doom the Dark Ages didn't sell that well. So...maybe they have layoffs.
DeleteThat would sting. I remember when everyone wanted them to get Halo or do a CoD.
DeleteI felt bad for a second and then I remembered that these people fucking hate me and would be happy if I died. So I’m happy that they’re suffering.
ReplyDeleteWho are you even talking about? Are you off your meds?
DeleteCome on, the dev at those studios didn't chose for their parent company (and a lot of them were bought not a long time ago) to be on BDS.
DeleteBDS?
DeleteHuh ?
DeleteI don't wanna hear that Xbox "got hit with layoffs"
ReplyDeleteThey did it to themselves. "Got hit" implies that they're victims in this, but they absolutely aren't
Can this be over now 😔
ReplyDeleteFallout 3/new Vegas remakes better be out soon
ReplyDeleteMan arkane seems so fucked that blade game hasn't shown anything
ReplyDeleteI find the way this is being played out quite sickening to be honest. These are people’s livelihoods, careers and is being played out in public. Can’t imagine what they must be feeling
ReplyDeleteI’m at Bethesda and can tell you it feels like legit shit but we all know they don’t give a single fuck.
DeleteEmbracer holds the current "record" of around 8.000 staff I believe.
ReplyDeleteIt was way higher than that. Waaaaaaay way higher.
DeleteThat number didn’t include contractors, vendors, or subsidiaries.
That was across 12 months, though. So it wasn't a single layoff.
DeleteReckon MS will beat that?
DeleteMicrosoft Gaming employs approximately 20.000 people worldwide, so anything is possible.
Delete> will
ReplyDeletebah gawd its not done yet??
But they really do care about Xbox gamers. They made the new Gears on consoles exclusive to the Xbox for Christ's sake!
ReplyDeleteWtf
ReplyDeleteGamer's 'We need Microsoft in this industry so Sony has competition'.
ReplyDeleteWhat, this Microsoft? This is the competition that Sony has to worry about?
Sony just fired 400 staff from one studio wiping out the entire destiny team
DeleteI bet they wish they never bought Bungie. Wonder if Microsoft regrets Activision Blizzard or Bethesda.
DeleteThis is the sad reality of xbox game studios continuously making games that arent that good. Just painfully average experiences. Then they go to gamepass and sell even less copies.
ReplyDeleteIf you owned a business and all it did was lose money, then your business would shut down.
Never work for Microslop. Greedy bastards
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHonestly, just shutter the entire division & let the studios go independent. Satya has wanted to kill Xbox since it debuted & has never been in support of it regardless of what PR speech he does. The writing has been on the wall for years. They’ll never recover. No matter what they do.
They’d have to move mountains and earth to even move the needle a fraction of a percentage. George says Xbox will be “supremely unpopular for a very long time” as if gamers and gaming media hasn’t hated and bashed Xbox for the past 15-17 years lol.
This would suck really bad for those that have built huge digital libraries and have invested into the eco system for many years. I cant imagine theyd be willing to start again on a new platform.
DeleteComment deleted by user
ReplyDeleteI’m waiting for a lolrare moment like the most recent loltna
DeleteWhat stage of capitalism is "hyping up layoffs"?
ReplyDeleteWhat needs to happen before laying off the actual talent is laying off the management. A bad team is usually only bad because of bad management. A room full of creatives who can manage scope, budget, and know when to say no is much more productive than someone who doesn't support the staff and is out of touch, letting the development slip into 5+ year territory with too many ideas that are all poorly executed. But hey, who knows, maybe firing all of the actual talent is the right move, maybe I'm stupid.
ReplyDeleteThey already got rid of Spencer and Bond, Asha is just here to do clean up which should have happened under the old regime.
DeleteThe layoffs will obviously be very bad but this hyperbolic nonsense this guy has been posting is just pathetic
ReplyDeleteGood for them, very much needed. Around 50 percent layoffs very likely.
ReplyDeleteDo we still love asha?
ReplyDeleteAny developer from double fine, Ninja Theory or Compulsion should really look at themselves and ask "Do they deserve their job?"
ReplyDeleteHonestly Phil Spencer was protecting these guys so hard, he gave them yard after yard of rope and it just turns out that rope was around their neck.
Too bad Asha has to pull the lever.
Uniting dreams beneath a banner of conquest. I praise your efforts at least. But foolish warriors, have you not learned? Dreams disappear when the dreamer wakes. Every last one of them with no exception. - Gilgamesh, Fate/Zero
Xbox industry is in shambles right now, I fear for PlayStation, Nintendo, and PC.
ReplyDeleteAxe Sharna slowly killing xbox. It was true when some insider said her role was to slowly bring xbox to an end
ReplyDeleteI think her role is to trim Xbox to be an attractive purchase for another entity (probably Saudi Arabia)
DeleteIf there's something left to buy once all these layoff ends
DeleteIn % of total employees, it's not
ReplyDeleteDamn Asha Sharma really is the Killer Queen
ReplyDeleteBy the guy that brought you "layoffs have started at Zenimax" "oh apparently layoffs at Zenimax will start on Friday... Or maybe Monday"
ReplyDeleteStill waiting
More often than not journalists report true stories, but it’s the management who “missplans” and has to reschedule because they don’t have everything ready yet
DeleteThis guy is not a journalist though, and everyone knew the layoffs were only starting after the end of the FY. He is just tweeting everything someone tells him.
DeleteAhh shit here we go again
ReplyDeleteComment deleted by user
ReplyDeleteI don’t know… make good games and cut middle management product managers
DeleteComment has been removed
DeleteSo seems like what asha sharma plans to do is one big layoff and get it over with instead of continuously having to do so
ReplyDeleteAre people still actually taking this guy seriously? Truly pathetic.
ReplyDeleteSame guy that said Zenimax were laying people off the beginning of last week.
DeleteBringing in the Iwata quote again:
ReplyDeleteIf we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease, and I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world."
- Satoru Iwata
Pretty wild that this has effectively taken the throne of most quoted Nintendo exec one-liner over Miyamoto's "a rushed game is forever bad" one.
DeleteLike, that's how bad these mass layoffs have gotten. Jesus Christ.
It is certainly notable that Nintendo just announce they are improving their employee headcount and their salaries, while Xbox is going through so much chaos and layoffs…
DeleteThe thing is a lot of it is just because Japan has lower salaries
DeleteDev salaries in Japan are much lower than what they are in America so it's not all that comparable. Also. Japanese law makes its incredibly hard to layoff people.
DeleteIt's why im fine with paying 10 Bucks more for a Nintendo game. We see them investing that money into increased development capabilities.
DeleteSure a price increase will sting no matter what, but having a price increase followed by huge layoffs feels like a kick in the dick
I am all in on making fun of the embarrassingly bad leadership of Xbox but at this point it feels so disrespectful to all employees. Just fucking do it already and stop torturing them like it's an event worth hyping
ReplyDeleteThen how about the Iwata route for cutting their paychecks and save jobs then?
DeleteWhat do you even mean by this? If it was option, Microsoft sure as hell ain't taking it
DeleteWhen will governments stop approving these mega mergers and acquisitions. Paramount WB will be no different.
ReplyDeleteGaming is becoming so unaffordable that people are losing their jobs in a crumbling economy. God this is sad.
ReplyDeleteWe're about to see 6+ years of mismanagement bear it's rotten fruit.
ReplyDelete6+ years? Try 12+ years. The consequences of all the failings of Phil Spencer are about to come down.
DeleteThe man had 12 years to unfuck Xbox after the infamous Xbox One launch, and all he did was shoddily patch some holes and then steer the ship into a bigger iceberg than the one that sunk the Titanic.
What we see today is more due to the actions of the recent 6-8 years of Phil Spencers purchasing spree.
Delete6? You're generous, it's more like 16 or so IMO
DeleteOh they've been fumbling for at least the last two generations.
DeleteThis is just specifically the big-ticket acquisition sprees coming home to roost.
Shouldn’t upper management bear the force of this reckoning
DeleteI mean they did fire Spencer and Bond. Booty and Hood somehow managed to preserve their position for some reason when the entire high level exec team should have been gone (the problem is that they didn't have really anyone to replace them). Like Asha was brought on with no gaming experience
DeleteAsha was brought in because she has successfully scaled businesses and divisions, she knows how to grow a company and listen to what the target audience wants. Imo, that is what Xbox actually needs, someone who can scale the business while listening to the customers, this is something that Phil Spencer lacked.
DeleteAmy Hood is the CFO of Microsoft she wouldn’t have been on the hook for this one
DeleteThe Don Mattrick firing event.
DeleteThis is the Phil Spencer fuckup. He's had a $100bn and over a decade and xbox is is in one of the worst spots it's ever been.
DeleteThis has nothing to do with Don Mattrick, he hasn’t been there for 13 years
DeleteHe started the decline. Xbox One and Series decisions can all be traced back to him.
DeleteSeries decisions? The console that happened seven years after his departure? Sure thing pal, Phil did nothing wrong right?
DeleteThey spent over 80 Billion on acquisitions in the last 8 years....
ReplyDeleteGame companies changing plans and strategy isn't surprising, but xbox messaging and what it is trying to be in the last 10 years is a rollercoaster.
So basically they will copy the Sony model, that sony started at the end of last gen, where only big bets exist with 2-3 games per year.
We know they burned a looot of money because of gamepass as well...I hope one day we find out just how much money that actually is..
Good luck to gears of war as an IP this October is all I can say at this point, it will be a victim of a company changing plans based on the vibes and twitter polls
"So basically they will copy the Sony model, that sony started at the end of last gen, where only big bets exist with 2-3 games per year."
DeleteWell they may try but laying off people, canceling games and closing studios isn't gonna help them to get games out....
"it will be a victim of a company changing plans based on the vibes and twitter polls"
DeleteDo you think these layoffs are due to twitter polls?
No, I think their return to console exclusivity is.
DeleteHow else to explain why a mulitplatform publisher will go back to that idea in the worst time imaginable, where they can't even sell their consoles let alone make them. Oh and that same company will release fable as mulitplatform release a couple months later....
It's one bad idea after another, was my point. These layoffs are Phil's mess, and just how bad his strategy was at the time.
You have lost your mind if you think a partial return to exclusivity is due to "twitter polls" lol
Delete"How else to explain why a mulitplatform publisher will go back to that idea..."
Their chief strategy officer did a public interview about 3 weeks ago where he discusses this specifically, along with why it's only those two to start. Go have a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTM-I_HDC9A
And you have lost your mind if you believe anything that comes out of their mouths at this point.
Deletelmao cool cool
DeleteThis layoff might be so severe that I can see the casual gamer even hearing about it and starting to think that Xbox is shutting down
ReplyDeleteWe’re edging the layoff announcement at this rate.
ReplyDeleteEven If you start to close down studios, leaving only a few alive. How are you still gonna make a profit? Because Im not confident studios like bethesda will keep you a float for 2 or 3 years. Especially in this economy.
ReplyDeleteDidnt he said that last monday, we will get the news about the layoffs at Zenimax. Dude is grifting, "like meteor that took out Dinosures" cringe, wow he sure loves all of this.
ReplyDelete10 days ago -
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/O4Q3m5ps2r
Dude doesn't know anything. Nobody but the top of the top knows exactly who is being laid off. And those people are not going to divulge that to this guy no matter his background in game development.
DeleteAnd guess what people are so gullible that they have fallen for his info hook, line, and sinker.
DeleteIn Elon's era, that's how these guys with blue tick fool people and earn money either with grifting, rage baiting, negativity, or woke/nonwoke nonsense.
Yep.
DeleteAt the end of the day, if the layoffs had truly started 10 days ago like he said, we would have been seeing employees posting about being laid off. We haven't had that yet and Microsoft has indicated they would start in July.
Who?
ReplyDeleteBloodbath on Wednesday huh?
ReplyDeletePossibly tomorrow since it would be the very last day of the fiscal year.
Deletethis guy sucks ass lol
ReplyDeleteHe also said the Zenimax layoffs were going to start a week ago.
ReplyDeleteYeah, pretty obvious Xbox will be having large layoffs, but this guy is huffing fumes over people's lives. Disgusting.
DeleteThe industry is really hyping these layoffs huh
ReplyDeleteThey wouldn't cancel Fable after all the gameplay trailers we've had, right? Right??
ReplyDeleteI think Fable is safe due to the genre it's in. MS knows a good WRPG can sell for years and years like Skyrim and Witcher 3.
DeleteAt what point do we all just say fuck this company and move on as gamers? They literally do not care at all about anything other than money, and they could have had that had they not spent the last 14 years absolutely fucking that up every chance they had. Time to die.
ReplyDelete"They literally do not care at all about anything other than money"
DeleteDo Sony at the same time then I guess
So basically every public type company.
DeleteYou can delete the public type, it's every company
DeleteI’m done with them for any personal purchases.
DeleteNot only have they fucked up their own gaming division, they took down multiple incredible franchises with them.
Yep. Exactly.
DeleteAll every company cares about is money.
DeleteOK...
DeleteThis feels like a propaganda headline. Like, how are they defining any of the metrics about this? What are the numbers and comparables?
ReplyDeleteThe worst layoffs in gaming history was 1,900 from Xbox 2.5 years ago.
Deletehttps://www.theverge.com/2024/1/25/24049050/microsoft-activision-blizzard-layoffs
Based off of rumors, if they shut down all four developers it'll be about as many developers as Sony just laid off from Bungie. There's misc roles beyond that (pr, accounting etc), but no one knows. It's just an avalanche of tweets at this point.
DeleteIt's not only the closed off studios though, there are also layoffs at the studios remaining open it seems.
DeleteAll over this thread. Read.
DeleteWhy even tweet this at all. People are about to have their lives upended and this gotcha style "look at what I know" tweet is in bad taste imo. The layoffs are going to be huge, we know this and have known this for weeks. Give these people your compassion instead of searching for reactions.
ReplyDeleteGeorge is an idiot.
DeleteHappy someone said this. At least post rumors of particular studios that may be at risk. I just feel awful for the employees in limbo in the middle of this.
DeleteI kinda feel like most ppl pretend to care about these employees getting laid off, but ultimately just see it as another way to bash the company or whoever else they already didn't like.
DeleteI mean if it's a really scummy company? Sure, I'll admit to that. But there's nothing scummy about perfectly fine (or even double fine) studios that are just making games
DeleteI dunno bro most these games developers on the chopping block probably haven't made a successful game in 5 years +. When was the last successful game Double Fine made? Im frankly surprised they're still around.
DeleteThis is his third tweet on layoffs. He's attention starved
DeleteAll these layoff posts have been strange imo.
DeleteIts funny how theyre all building this up lmao calling it an event is crazy
ReplyDeleteThat’s because this subreddit circlejerks any negative Xbox news like it’s the Olympics.
DeleteGotta get a polymarket going for the number of employees going to be laid off so they can profit off it of course! This is the US after all!
DeleteGotta get them clicks baby
DeleteThey dont release games anymore, this is all we got
DeleteThey released a dozen games last year and they just recently released the highest rated game on Metacritic.
DeleteFacebook did the same thing a month or so ago.
DeleteIt's the E3 of layoffs.
DeleteWhat’s E3?
DeleteThe Barbenheimer of layoffs
DeleteI'm sure there is some tactic to do these layoffs shortly after the summer news blowout but far away from the game awards.
Delete