Image: Nintendo Life
Earlier this week, Xbox announced it would be continuing its “reset” with more eliminations across its gaming division.
The latest round of layoffs has impacted multiple developers and also led to organisational restructures, with a bunch of developers now reporting directly to companies such as Activision and Bethesda.
According to a new story from Windows Central’s executive editor Jez Corden, this reshuffle and the decisions made during the previous round have apparently reduced the size of the layoffs, with the “total figure” (revealed by Xbox as “approximately” 3,200 layoffs throughout FY27) now expected to “fall short” of this previous estimate.
“Last July, Microsoft announced it would be looking to reduce its gaming workforce by around 3,200 staffers. Sources suggest that the total figure will fall short of that previous estimate, as Microsoft opts for restructuring and moving employees around to other departments as much as possible.
“One way Microsoft has sought to achieve some of this is via divestitures. Double Fine and Compulsion have both returned to being independent game studios, for example, with the former starting a Kickstarter to fund its next title. Undead Labs of State of Decay fame is also moving to another publisher, although it has not been revealed exactly who this is just yet. Discussions around the future of Arkane are still ongoing.”
Unfortunately, for Microsoft, this reset hasn’t gone entirely to plan, with Xbox’s Matt Booty revealing in the latest update that agreements with Ninja Theory (Hellblade) have fallen through, and it is now beginning the consultation process with employees on a proposed closure.
He also noted in the same update this week how Xbox was now “roughly three-quarters of the way through the previously announced restructuring”. So it’s not over yet.
[source windowscentral.com, via insider-gaming.com]
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Liam is a news writer and reviewer on Nintendo Life. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of many iconic video game characters.