SamuraiEdge
Member
Jezza is as full corpo boot licker, there is no saving him. KFC family buckets are only what keeps him going.
Bloomberg: Microsoft Plans Major Job Cuts at Xbox Gaming Division
- Thread starter Thick Thighs Save Lives
- Start date
- News
- Status
jm89
Member
Only one that comes to mind that could be hit is ninja theory, maybe not a complete shutter as i think they do other stuff like mocap or something? Can't remember.
The other uk companies i can think of is rare and playground but wouldn't make much sense imo, sea thieves and forza horizon look like big successes.
But then again these guys will be looking to save money whereever they can.
midnightAI
Member
Xbox still has to stand on its own two feet though, it cant be propped up by daddy Microsoft forever. Multi million (billion) dollar companies are rich because they are ruthless and cut/make cuts to the parts that are failing (in the case of Microsoft look at Windows Phone, Microsoft Band, Zune, Surface RT, Hololens to name a few)
SweetTooth
Banned
The attitude is BECAUSE he is gaming journalist lol
Moridianae
Member
Why do I get the feeling that Ninja Theory is getting the ol' "Hi Fi Rush". Chucking Hellblade onto Playstation and being shut down right afterwards?
Last edited:
Unknown Soldier
Member
It's a miracle Ninja Theory has existed for this long. They have never made a single good game, going all the way to Heavenly Sword in 2007
How they have survived for 18 years when many other good studios have died is a mystery
jm89
Member
Wonder if this is related… Is Sarah Bond being promoted or fired? Or was this just some Juneteenth thing?
Topher
Identifies as young
Layoffs are happening company wide and I don't know of any failing products they are tied to. Last earnings call showed Xbox revenue up and hardware declines slowing.
Last edited:
jm89
Member
The other post is from her bluesky account.That's not even her real account
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
I'm largely unsympathetic to the industry over the layoff wave, even more so at Microsoft. Difference is that I don't cover up my fanboyism in appeals to labor activism.
Growing in market value doesn't necessarily mean you've got payroll debt to spare. Microsoft is a very large company that spends a lot of money to function. Trillion dollar companies don't stay at that level by being that wasteful with spending. Contrary to the decade-old claims by the Harbingers of the Warchest, Microsoft isn't here to subsidize an Xbox bloated to the size they are.
It's only going to get worse from here. I do not think Obsidian of InXile last up to this time next gen. Their games have taken up so much time and resource and aren't doing/wont do the business needed to justify.
Giallo Corsa
Member
So much this.
One the most overhyped companies that always put spectacle above gameplay which, the little of it that was featured always was sleep-inducing.
- Kung Fu chaos : no comment
- Heavenly sword : bad, boring GOW wannabe with huge technical problems (abysmal framerate/jaggies galore/tearing)
- Enslaved : ran much better than HS but G'damn if it was a boring, "mash X to win", auto-pilot shallow gameplay bullshit.
- Bleeding Edge : we all know what happened to that one (mid as hell, died a quick death).
- DmC : Emo, edge Lord bullshit, the worst DMC out there, I'd literally play DMC2 over this pathetic attempt.
- Hellblade : not much of a "game", good audio, OK graphics and that was pretty much it.
- Hellblade 2 : same as above
How the hell did this company managed to stay afloat all these years I'll never understand with this constant , incredibly mediocre output.
Last edited:
Mr Moose
Member
Still can't believe his sister is Mo from Eastenders.
Fatmanp
Member
I don't think success will make much of a difference when number on spreadsheet must go up
HeisenbergFX4
Member
Bottom line is all that matters as no telling how many redundant useless positions a company like MS/Xbox has
Hate to be the cold hearted one but layoffs are just part of life
I played baseball with many people who were just let go at a moments notice and sell insurance or some other line of work
Improvise, adapt, and overcome
Astray
Member
The new Xbox Game Studios head is ex-Rare, no way they'd touch Rare unless a gigantic fuck up is made.
id Software just shipped Doom and they still have to ship the DLC roadmap, so they're safe despite Doom potentially underperforming.
Machine Games just shipped Indiana Jones on PS5, and they are about to ship the DLC, so they're safe for at least that long.
Compulsion Studios should almost certainly be afraid though.
Topher
Identifies as young
Eh......widespread layoffs in the thousands like this are about cutting costs and increasing margins. I seriously doubt they are looking at each individual position and analyzing whether that position is redundant.
Last edited:
Jaybe
Member
Found this. Think it's a bit dated as it still has Tango on it. In a world where you have moved to being the largest third party publisher, I don't see how small studios and new IP mean much to you when you've got so many massive franchises. Finance is likely doing some rudimentary $ revenue per employee math on each of these and questioning them. Especially after the latest year of releases.
i am a blogger too
GAF, Apologize, please
Astray
Member
I feel something is off about this round though.
Never before have I felt like I was given an invitation to come and gawk at a trainwreck that is gonna happen. So surreal that we're all getting so much advance notice on this, including from known Xbox insiders like Tom Warren.
Even George Broussard is talking about it potentially being 1000-2000 people impacted and studios shuttered
HeisenbergFX4
Member
Also sounds like a number of job cut are being outsourced
Ev1L AuRoN
Member
Probably the hardware division 
Xbox is 20K people not 10K. It's strange that someone who should know better doesn't know this data.
That said, laying off 1,000-2,000 people is still just as dramatic. We'll see how they're distributed and where those staff cuts will be concentrated. I wouldn't want small/AA studios to pay the price, seeing as the industry and major publishers seem to only bet on big projects and well-known IPs. Investing in these types of studios with 60-80 people, moderately budgeted projects with creative freedom, is more necessary than ever when development times are so long.
Last edited:
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Astray
Member
He got the total head count wrong, but it's honestly strange that so much time has passed without an official confirmation from Microsoft on the number already or even an official announcement already.
It's not normal to leave employees and general observers antsy over layoff news for almost a week now.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Agreed. But, to be fair, it is a big trainwreck. Imagine laying off 10%-20% of a division's workforce - which literally relies on human resources and their creativity.
Last edited:
RetroGamingUK
Member
COD, Elder Scrolls, Doom, Fallout…
…all exclusive to Xbox
Market dominance
By the time Activision was acquired it was too late, the plan had become unfeasible.
I was simply highlighting how shocking it is that people supposedly inside the industry and handling information sources don't know this data. 20K vs 10K is a serious data error.
Regarding the delay in making the layoffs official... Nothing new, MS is notorious for its lack of humane treatment when it comes to staff cuts. Most of those affected sadly will surely receive notification without prior notice.
Another issue is the possible closure of Studios. By now (assuming it will be made official this week), the bosses and those responsible for them should already know about it.
We'll see.
Last edited:
DeltaPolarBear
Member
Normally you sacrifice what you purchased to make what you had stronger. But this time they purchased a company that was larger and more successful than Xbox itself. So instead of killing Activision to strengthen Xbox, the reverse happened and Activision ATE Xbox.
Or as i said before, it was an UNO Reverse event. Activision ate Blizzard, and now they ate Xbox.
Last edited:
Astray
Member
I would honestly pay good money for a proper documentary on the inner workings of Xbox and PS this gen.
So much drama happening behind the scenes that is couched in PR-friendly buzzwords to the public.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
nowhat
Member
It is doubtful the Actiblizz acquisition would have been approved by regulators without leaving COD multiplatform (didn't the final deal with FTC mandate ten years of non-exclusivity?). So if the original idea was to make COD exclusive, it was remarkably poorly thought out.
He's likely not counting subsidiaries like Bethesda and ABK but XGS themselves.
Mr Moose
Member
Is that 20k including Activison?
XBox Studios isn't 10K either. And if that were the reason... Would that mean that the layoffs only apply to people at XBOX Studios and not ABK-Bethesda?
I think it's simply a (shocking, though) error of knowledge or a lapse.
I'm wondering what it all means. It's clear the layoff announcement is imminent. Prolonging the official announcement for so long after so many have already announced the plans is not humanly acceptable. Very sad.
Yes. That was the figure that emerged from last year's layoffs (which mostly affected ABK and Zenimax).
Was it 9% of 23K? I don't remember correctly, but after those, there were ~20K left (ABK-Zeni-XBStudios).
SamuraiEdge
Member
Really, thinking about how things have gone everywhere, I do think it's probably the best path all round. Nothing was going to ever stop these cuts either way, but at least each three will follow their own path with still plenty of games across to be satisfied. You only need Sony and Nintendo in the console space, with Microsoft going third party for their games all round. I want to take advantage of Game Pass as long as I can.
Moridianae
Member
Nope, even though I know you're being sarcastic.
Rumors have been swirling of an imminent price hike for that also in the very near future.
GHG
Member
When your division is responsible for the largest acquisition in the entire history of a company as large as Microsoft, the rest of the company and investors will start asking for ROI on an immediate basis.
How the people in charge of the division didn't realise this I will never know, but they clearly thought they would get at least a couple more years of flying under the radar.
It's hard to say what he meant by "xbox unit" but if you exclude ABK and include other employees of xbox outside of just internal studios it's probably not far off. Tom Warren has said it entails restructuring "Xbox distribution across central Europe", whatever that means/includes.
MatrixReloaded101
Member
The layoffs nowadays is just to cook the books to make the numbers look good each quarter its not about redundant useless positions.
If companies keep laying off at this pace that started after the pandemic they won't have enough customers left to buy their products which is usually gear towards people in these white collar jobs and they are damaging their company's reputation being an unstable place to work.
Astray
Member
It isn't just the largest, it used up 1/3rd of MS's cash reserves at the time (iirc) during a period of interest rate hikes. And it forced Microsoft to spend a lot of its soft power and influence with regulators around the world to get it through.
The 1st thing in particular makes me think that Amy Hood has a laser scope pointed at Phil's office window 24/7.
Baemono
Member
"He sees the futrue of gaming in his toast every morning"
But yeah, always the same reaction.
"I didn't see you complaining when Sony bought Bungie"
"I didn't you see complaining when Sony layed-off people"
Last edited:
HeisenbergFX4
Member
I have no idea how many positions were deemed useless and/or redundant
People will still flock to MS/Xbox to work there regardless of their reputation because too many people see it as a dream position much like any other big named company
Layoffs just arent a big deal to me who "worked" in a field that one day I woke up at the age of 33 and was told I likely would not be resigned to any major league contract effectively meaning I was out of a job
And before anyone says yeah but you played a professional sport, look up salaries in the 1990s of middle relief pitchers, I didn't earn my wealth from that
Astray
Member
lmfao almost died laughing at this.
Parris really got raked over the coals this month huh?
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked