USA 
United Kingdom
Microsoft is losing approximately 650 employees in its gaming division, or three per cent of its global workforce, in a new round of layoffs that follow its $69billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The cuts will primarily impact staff in “corporate and supporting functions,” according to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.
“For the past year, our goal has been to minimize disruption while welcoming new teams and enabling them to do their best work,” Spencer said in an email to staff.
“As part of aligning our post-acquisition team structure and managing our business, we have made the decision to eliminate approximately 650 roles across Microsoft Gaming—mostly corporate and supporting functions—to organize our business for long term success.”
US employees will receive exit packages that include severance, extended healthcare and outplacement services, while international employees will receive different packages dependent on their location, he said.
There are no video game titles, devices or “experiences” being canceled as a result of the layoffs, and no studios will be closed.
Games industry lay-offs
The job losses are part of an industry-wide round of gaming company cuts this year, including Sony Interactive, Riot Games, Take-Two Interactive, EA and more.
Back in January, the company announced it would be laying off 1,900 employees, roughly eight per cent of its workforce, across Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax.
In May, it closed three studios, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios and Tango Gameworks, run by its subsidiary Bethesda Softworks, and merged a fourth, Roundhouse Games, with its The Elder Scrolls Online team under ZeniMax Online Studios.
In his email to staff, Spencer said: “With these changes, our corporate and supporting teams and resources are aligned for sustainable future growth, and can better support our studio teams and business units with programs and resources that can scale to meet their needs. Separately, as part of running the business, there are some impacts to other teams as they adapt to shifting priorities and manage the lifecycle and performance of games. No games, devices or experiences are being cancelled and no studios are being closed as part of these adjustments today.
“Throughout our team’s history, we have had great moments, and we have had challenging ones. Today is one of the challenging days. I know that going through more changes like this is hard, but even in the most trying times, this team has been able to come together and show one another care and kindness as we work to continue delivering for our players. We appreciate your support as we navigate these changes and we thank you for your compassion and respect for each other.”
