Xbox Cuts 20% of Staff
Xbox just cut 20% of its entire workforce. Here is how the massive layoffs are shattering studio morale and delaying major games.
What the video says
Xbox is laying off over 3,000 staff members. This massive cut wipes out a fifth of its entire workforce.
An internal email reveals 1,600 of these layoffs take place today, the rest will follow later. The cuts hit acquired studios hard, despite previous promises to regulators that Microsoft would avoid layoffs.
Compulsion Games and Double Fine are spinning off to become independent. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are joining new ownership.
While CEO Ashish Sharma claims no publicly announced first-party projects are canceled, the internal toll is heavy. At Bethesda Game Studios, staff report that losing over 50 employees has shattered morale and threatened to delay the Skyrim successor.
When remaining workers set up memorials in common areas for their departing colleagues, HR ordered them taken down. In a stark twist, Sharma was just named to a Federal Reserve task force to advise on jobs and productivity.
