Microsoft Lays Off 1,900 Xbox, Bethesda And Activision Blizzard Employees

Some more industry news has broken this week, and this time it relates to Microsoft’s Xbox division, which last year finalised its acquisition of Activision Blizzard and has in recent times reiterated its support for Nintendo platforms.

In a message from the Xbox and Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer (via IGN), it’s been revealed 1,900 roles out of 22,000 in total across the team have been axed.

This includes many roles within ZeniMax (Bethesda) and Activision Blizzard. The reasoning behind this is so the leadership of the business aligns on a “strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure” that will support the whole of the growing business. Here’s the full statement from Phil:

Phil Spencer: “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 1,900 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.”

On the same day as this announcement, Microsoft now has a $3 trillion market cap for the first time in its history, which puts it behind Apple as the second company to ever achieve this. This is partly thanks to decision-making by Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella to acquire and invest in AI and ‘Copilot’ as well as games and IPs like Minecraft over the past decade.

This latest round of layoffs follows on from a bunch of others already this year, including some companies also having to scale back. Just earlier this week, Riot Games axed 530 jobs globally.

Microsoft, Xbox, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard are responsible for releasing games on the Nintendo Switch like Minecraft Legends, Overwatch 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Diablo, and have recently reinforced the fact Nintendo users can expect to feel part of the Xbox family moving forward. It’s also done a deal to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms for the next 10 years. You can learn more about the latest Microsoft layoffs on our sibling website Pure Xbox.