Microsoft Cuts 1,900 Xbox Jobs as Games Industry Layoffs Show No Sign of Stopping
By Jeremy ·
Microsoft announced this week it's cutting approximately 1,900 jobs across its gaming division, including roles at ZeniMax Studios and Activision Blizzard. The cuts come less than two weeks after Xbox held a showcase previewing upcoming exclusives: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle from MachineGames, Avowed from Obsidian, Hellblade 2 from Ninja Theory, and Ara: History Untold from Oxide Games.
The juxtaposition is hard to miss. Xbox spent the showcase generating press about its game pipeline. The layoffs arrived before that coverage had fully cleared.
The Union Response
The Communications Workers of America, which represents hundreds of workers across Microsoft gaming subsidiaries including ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, told IGN that the cuts don't affect the workers it currently represents.
Wayne Dayberry, a Senior Quality Assurance Tester at ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, had this to say: "It hurts to see our coworkers, who are so passionate about this work, who actually make these video game companies so successful, be the first impacted by any cuts or layoffs at work. Companies will claim that we're all a family, but a family doesn't lay off or outsource people."
Dayberry's statement went on to make the case for broader union representation, arguing that collective bargaining provides some structural protection against exactly this kind of cycle. Whether that argument reaches developers at non-unionized studios is another question.
The Scale of the Problem
The Microsoft cuts don't land in isolation. Estimates put 2023's gaming layoffs above 10,000 workers industry-wide. A GDC survey of developers found roughly one-third were affected last year, either losing a job or watching it happen at their studio. 2024 is barely three weeks old and already has a large-scale cut on the board.
Xbox's leadership structure also shifted recently. Sarah Bond was elevated to Xbox president and Matt Booty to president of game content and studios. Restructuring at the top and cuts below it tend to travel together.
Profits Aren't Protection
The uncomfortable part of this cycle is that it isn't being driven by companies in distress. Activision Blizzard's titles generate real revenue. Microsoft closed the acquisition last year. The workers being cut weren't failing to deliver.
Dayberry put it plainly: "Layoffs in the video game industry are becoming the norm, even at companies that continue to deliver huge profits."
That's the pattern entering 2024. Whether it changes depends on decisions that won't be made by the workers being let go.