Microsoft lays off 1,900 employees from its gaming division – direct marketing
Microsoft retains 1,900 employees in its video game division ‘game over’
According to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, the layoffs are part of a broader “action plan” that will reduce the size of “areas with overlapping missions.”
The wave of layoffs continues in the tech industry, which already had a “terrible year” in 2023 and started 2024 with scissors as well. The latest tech company to announce layoffs is Microsoft, which will lay off about 1,900 employees from its gaming division.which is equivalent to 9% of this business unit’s workforce.
According to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, The layoffs are part of a broader “implementation plan” that will reduce the size of “overlapping areas.”. In any case, it is surprising that the cuts come just three months after the Redmond company managed to close its acquisition of video game developer Activision Blizzard, which took nearly two years due to numerous regulatory hurdles. give the green light to the operation.
There is also the fact that Mike Ibarra, President of Activision Blizzard, announced yesterdayexactly when the layoffs were announced, that he would professionally separate himself from the gaming company and Microsoft.
Also, Allen Adham, co-founder and head of design at Activision Blizzard, will sever ties with the company. which will also stop the development of a new survival game.
Microsoft paid $69 billion for Activision Blizzard, whose portfolio includes important video game franchises such as Call of Duty, Diablo and Candy Crush Saga. This is the largest acquisition ever made by the software giant.
The tech industry has already seen nearly 24,000 layoffs in the first four weeks of January.
In the tech industry, as economic pressure dangerously mounts, Companies are implementing significant cost-saving measures to achieve greater efficiencies that drive growth and ultimately profitability.
In the first weeks of 2024, companies such as Amazon, Google, eBay, SAP or TikTok announced workforce reductions.However, they are not considered as severe as those that occurred in 2023, when more than 200,000 tech industry workers were laid off.
According to Layoffs.fyi, In the first 26 days of January, nearly 24,000 jobs at 85 tech companies have already been destroyed.