Three Months After The Merger With Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft is Laying Off 1900 Employees

Just four months after the merger with Activision-Blizzard, Microsoft has announced that it will lay off 1.900 Activision-Blizzard and Xbox employees.

In a new report from The Verge, these layoffs hit roughly 8% over Microsoft's overall gaming division. According to the report, the deep cut in the workforce mainly affects those at Activision-Blizzard, but also some employees at Zenimax (Bethesda) and Xbox are affected by the latest in a long line of layoffs in the tech and gaming industry. The Verge has obtained an internal memo from Xbox boss Phil Spencer, addressing the "painful decision" for this latest wave of layoffs at Microsoft:

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"It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft", Spencer's memo reads. "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."

The Xbox head adds, "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,