Current:Home > FinanceMicrosoft layoffs: 1,900 workers at Activision Blizzard and Xbox to be let go-LoTradeCoin
Microsoft layoffs: 1,900 workers at Activision Blizzard and Xbox to be let go
View Date:2024-12-23 23:27:20
Microsoft will lay off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox, the latest tech company to announce cuts so far in 2024.
The layoffs represent about an 8% cut of its video gaming staff of 22,000 workers and come months after Microsoft acquired Activision in a blockbuster deal. The $69 billion transaction in October represented one of the largest tech deals in history as Microsoft took over the studios behind bestselling games like Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch for its Xbox console.
The planned cuts are part of a larger “execution plan” that would reduce “areas of overlap,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote in an internal memo, which was quoted in multiple news reports.
"We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues," Spencer is quoted as saying in the memo. "We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition."
Microsoft confirmed news of the layoffs when reached Thursday by USA TODAY but declined to provide a copy of the memo.
Layoffs:Business Insider to lay off around 8% of employees in latest media job cuts
Blizzard executives announce resignations
Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard was seen as a strategy to keep pace with Sony and Nintendo in a console race by adding more games to its multi-game subscription service and cloud gaming libraries.
Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, which ranks third in sales behind PlayStation and Nintendo, seeks to fold Activision titles into its Game Pass service, which isn't unlike Netflix but for video games.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the planned cuts, which mostly target Activision Blizzard employees, reflect "redundancies" after the October acquisition of video game company. Spencer said in the cited memo that Microsoft would provide location-dependent severance to all laid-off employees.
Alongside the layoffs, two Blizzard Entertainment executives are leaving the company, President Mike Ybarra and design chief Allen Adham, a Microsoft spokesman told multiple outlets.
Ybarra confirmed the news himself of his immediate departure in a post Thursday on social media platform X.
"Leading Blizzard through an incredible time and being part of the team, shaping it for the future ahead, was an absolute honor," Ybarra said in the post.
Other tech layoffs in the news
Several big-name companies have already announced 2024 job cuts, including Amazon, eBay and Google. It remains to be seen whether this year will play out like 2023, which yielded more than 300,000 layoffs, according to Forbes, which tracks major announcements.
In the tech sector, at least, job cuts are fewer this year than last. Another layoff tracking site, Layoffs.fyi, reports that 76 tech companies had announced 21,370 layoffs through late January. By contrast, 277 firms had laid off 89,709 workers through January 2023.
But some economists foresee more layoffs to come, amid talk of a possible economic slowdown later in 2024.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls
- In a landslide-stricken town in California, life is like camping with no power, gas
- Inside the Georgia high school where a sleepy morning was pierced by gunfire
- Mexican drug cartel leader agrees to be transferred from Texas to New York
- NFL Week 10 injury report: Live updates on active, inactive players for Sunday's games
- Alex Morgan leaves soccer a legend because she used her influence for the greater good
- Is Chrishell Stause Outgrowing Selling Sunset? She Says…
- Get a student discount for NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV: Here's how to save $280 or more
- More human remains from Philadelphia’s 1985 MOVE bombing have been found at a museum
- Markey and Warren condemn Steward’s CEO for refusing to comply with a Senate subpoena
Ranking
- New York nursing home operator accused of neglect settles with state for $45M
- Billie Jean King moves closer to breaking another barrier and earning the Congressional Gold Medal
- An ex-Mafia hitman is set for sentencing in the prison killing of gangster James ‘Whitey’ Bulger
- Caity Simmers, an 18-year-old surfing phenom, could pry record from all-time great
- Report: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence could miss rest of season with shoulder injury
- Chiefs look built to handle Super Bowl three-peat quest that crushed other teams
- Chiefs hold off Ravens 27-20 when review overturns a TD on final play of NFL’s season opener
- USWNT star Alex Morgan announces retirement from soccer, second pregnancy
Recommendation
-
Kentucky officer reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds in 2020 protests under investigation again
-
Group Therapy Sessions Proliferate for People Afflicted With ‘Eco-Distress’
-
Say Goodbye to Tech Neck and Wrinkles with StriVectin Neck Cream—Now 50% Off
-
Inside Katy Perry's Dramatic Path to Forever With Orlando Bloom
-
NFL Week 10 injury report: Live updates on active, inactive players for Sunday's games
-
Markey and Warren condemn Steward’s CEO for refusing to comply with a Senate subpoena
-
Video shows Green Day pause Detroit concert after unauthorized drone sighting
-
I’m a Shopping Editor, and These Are the Doc Martens Shoes Everyone Needs in Their Fall Wardrobe