Microsoft laid off 1900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees

A Microsoft fired 1900 employees Activision Blizzard It is Xboxaround 8% of Microsoft Gamingwhich has around 22,000 employees in total.

In the message from the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencerwe can read:

It’s been just over three months since the teams from Activision, Blizzard and King joined Microsoft. As we move into 2024, Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard leadership is committed to aligning a strategy and execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support our entire growing business. Together, we set priorities, identify areas of overlap, and ensure we are all aligned on the best growth opportunities.

As part of this process, we made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1,900 roles out of our 22,000-person team. The Games Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as carefully as possible. Everyone who is directly affected by these reductions has played an important role in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they have achieved here. We are grateful for all the creativity, passion and dedication you have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those affected during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws. Those whose roles will be affected will be notified and we ask that you treat your departing colleagues with the respect and compassion that are consistent with our values.

Already Matt Bootyhead of Xbox Studios, said in a note to the team:

Today’s actions affect multiple teams across Blizzard, including development teams, shared services organizations, and corporate functions. As part of this focus, Blizzard is wrapping up development on its survival game project and will move some of the people working on it to one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development.

As part of the advertisement, Booty also confirmed that the president of Blizzard, Mike Ybarrawill leave the company, as well as the design director, Allen Adham.

On twitter Mike Ybarra he wrote:

… It is an incredibly difficult day and my energy and support will be focused on all of the incredible individuals affected – this is in no way a reflection of your incredible work. If there is anything I can help with, connections, recommendations, etc., please message me.

To the Blizzard community: I also want everyone to know that today is my last day at Blizzard. Leading Blizzard through an incredible moment and being part of the team, shaping it for the future to come, has been an absolute honor. Having spent over 20 years at Microsoft and with the Activision Blizzard acquisition behind us, it’s time to (once again) become Blizzard’s biggest outside fan.