Microsoft is aan het herstructureren na de overname van Activision Blizzard voor een record bedrag van 69 miljard dollar. Deze week was al een slechte week wat betreft lay-offs in de games industrie, maar Microsoft zet ineens 1900 mensen op straat.
Van de 22.000 werknemers in de video game workforce bestaande uit Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, Activision, King en Blizzard, gaan er 1900 mensen ontslagen worden. Dat is 8% van het totaal aantal werknemers in gaming afdelingen van Microsoft. Het is onduidelijk of dit gelijk is verspreid wordt over alle studio’s en uitgevers, of dat bepaalde studio’s en afdelingen harder zijn geraakt.
Xbox-baas Phil Spencer heeft in een interne e-mail aan werknemers aangegeven dat Microsoft iedereen die getroffen is, zal helpen met de transitie. De lay-offs bij Xbox komen als een verrassing, aangezien er ook een grote ontslagronde was in het jaar 2023. Toen werd Halo-ontwikkelaar 343 Industries heel hard geraakt.
Statement Phil Spencer over de 1900 ontslagen in video game workforce
“It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft. As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth.
“As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible. The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here. We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws. Those whose roles will be impacted will be notified, and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with the respect and compassion that is consistent with our values.
“Looking ahead, we’ll continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I’m as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together.
“Phil.”
