Xbox Cuts Lots of Jobs, Shuts Studios, and Drops Big Games
Microsoft has started a very big change in its Xbox team, which has led to thousands losing their jobs, the shut down of some game-making places, and the end of some big games that have been worked on for a long time. This news has shocked many people who make games, making them feel sad, mad, and confused.
Big Changes Dropped Games and Shut Studios
We are still finding out how big this change is, but early news says there are lots of cuts in the team. Here's what has happened:
- Games Dropped: A new fighting game named Perfect Dark has been fully dropped. The big online game Blackbird, made over seven years by the people behind TES Online, is also ended. Several other secret projects are also gone.
- Studios Hit: The Initiative, the group making Perfect Dark, seems to be gone. There have been job cuts at Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, and Turn 10, with the last one losing about half its workers. Even the phone game maker King cut about 200 jobs.
- ZeniMax Impact: Job cuts hit ZeniMax, which owns Bethesda, but it's not fully clear how bad it is there.
Reporter Jason Schreyer says Microsoft plans to cut about nine thousand jobs all over the world, but we don't know the exact number in the gaming part yet.
Hard Hit from the Layoffs
The way and size of the job cuts have faced a lot of anger. Game makers say it's all over the place, with some finding out they lost their jobs when they couldn't get into their work accounts anymore.
"For instance, today Zenimax Online Studios saw lots of Xbox workers suddenly lose access to their Slack. No word from HR, no news on if they still have jobs, just their Slack turned off." - Jason Schreyer
Michael Douse, who helps lead Baldur's Gate III, slammed the big merges going on:
"It's like a huge dark hole that pulls everyone in and throws out scraps. [...] We must remember, it's more about buying assets than people. When they buy you, it's not really you they want. Merging cuts jobs. It hurts making games. It's bad for buyers."
Indie game maker Rami Ismail said the usual company talk at these times is more to make shareholders happy. Veteran Patrick Ren, from Respawn, called it "another farce in the game world," underlining the worry about what will happen next.
The Official Say and What's Next for Phil Spencer
A note from Phil Spencer, the boss of Xbox, to workers said that the company had to give up some things for future wins and to pay more attention to growing parts. He also said Xbox would leave some areas completely.
Some think Spencer might leave before the current game console cycle ends, even though the PR team denies it. Still, people doubt it. What's sure is that the Xbox group is going through deep and tough changes.
