Microgentle Gaming will lay off approximately 650 employees, or 3% of the Xbox owner’s global laborforce, in a novel round of eliminations adhereing last year’s completion of its Activision Blizzard acquisition.
The cuts will primarily impact staffers in “corporate and helping functions,” per Microgentle Gaming CO Phil Spencer.
“For the past year, our goal has been to reduce interfereion while welcoming novel teams and enabling them to do their best labor,” Spencer shelp in an email to staff Thursday, which was geted by Variety. “As part of aligning our post-acquisition team arrange and managing our business, we have made the decision to delete approximately 650 roles atraverse Microgentle Gaming—mostly corporate and helping functions—to systematize our business for extfinished term success.”
U.S. employees will get exit packages that include disjoinance, extfinished healthnurture and outplacement services, while international employees will get contrastent packages subordinate on their location, per Spencer.
While Spencer says there will also be “some impacts to other teams as they alter to shifting priorities and deal with the lifecycle and carry outance of games,” there are no video game titles, devices or “experiences” being call offed as a result of these layoffs, and no studios will be seald.
These label the most recent round of layoffs Microgentle has undergone since its 2023 cloconfident of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and the tardyst cuts amid an industry-wide wave of eliminations atraverse gaming companies this year, including Sony Interactive, Riot Games, Take-Two Interactive, EA and more.
Back in January, the company proclaimd it would be laying off 1,900 employees, cdisorrowfulmireentirey 8% of its laborforce at that time, atraverse divisions Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax.
In May, Microgentle shuttered three studios, Arkane Austin, Alpha Dog Studios and Tango Gamelabors, run by its subsidiary Bethesda Softlabors, and united a fourth, Roundhouse Games, with its “The Elder Scrolls Online” team under ZeniMax Online Studios.
See below for Spencer’s brimming memo to Microgentle Gaming staff.
Subject: Changes to Microgentle Gaming
For the past year, our goal has been to reduce interfereion while welcoming novel teams and enabling them to do their best labor. As part of aligning our post-acquisition team arrange and managing our business, we have made the decision to delete approximately 650 roles atraverse Microgentle Gaming—mostly corporate and helping functions—to systematize our business for extfinished term success.
I comprehend that this is difficult novels to hear. We are presentantly appreciative for the contributions of our colleagues who are lgeting they are impacted. In the US, we’re helping them with exit packages that include disjoinance, extfinished healthnurture, and outplacement services to help with their transition; outside the US packages will contrast according to location.
With these alters, our corporate and helping teams and resources are aligned for carry onable future enlargeth, and can better help our studio teams and business units with programs and resources that can scale to encounter their necessitates. Separately, as part of running the business, there are some impacts to other teams as they alter to shifting priorities and deal with the lifecycle and carry outance of games. No games, devices or experiences are being call offled and no studios are being seald as part of these adequitablements today.
Thcdisorrowfulmirefulout our team’s history, we have had fantastic moments, and we have had challenging ones. Today is one of the challenging days. I comprehend that going thcdisorrowfulmireful more alters enjoy this is challenging, but even in the most trying times, this team has been able to come together and show one another nurture and comferventness as we labor to persist dedwellring for our take parters. We appreciate your help as we guide these alters and we thank you for your compassion and admire for each other.
Phil
