Xbox Staff Await Further Layoffs Amid Microsoft's Ongoing Cuts

Microsoft is reportedly preparing for substantial layoffs within its gaming division, with potential job cuts expected as early as next week. According to Bloomberg, the Xbox division will face what's being described as "major" reductions in staffing. The Verge corroborated these claims, noting that Microsoft managers have already been briefed on the upcoming Xbox-related layoffs, which are part of broader company-wide cuts—particularly affecting sales departments.

Within the gaming sector, The Verge highlighted that Microsoft intends to implement these reductions ahead of the launch of its next-generation console lineup. Just last week, Microsoft announced a strategic collaboration with AMD to power future Xbox consoles, though no official release date has been shared for the new hardware.

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Additionally, The Verge reported that Microsoft is restructuring its Xbox distribution operations in Central Europe, with some regional operations set to be discontinued entirely.

Anonymous sources within Microsoft, speaking to IGN under condition of confidentiality to protect their careers, revealed that employees are mentally preparing for the wave of layoffs and that it’s now perceived as inevitable rather than speculative.

This anticipated round of job cuts follows a series of major reductions within Microsoft’s gaming segment since its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In January 2024 alone, 1,900 gaming staff were laid off. That was followed by additional cuts just months later when Arkane Austin (developer of Redfall) and Tango Gameworks (Hi-Fi Rush) were shut down. Then in September 2024, [ttpp] an additional 650 gaming employees were let go. Most notably, May of this year saw a staggering 6,000 Microsoft employees across the company lose their jobs—representing 3% of the tech giant’s global workforce.

In a statement to IGN back in June 2024, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer addressed the difficult decisions being made: “I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.”