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As reported by The Verge, the layoffs primarily have an effect on employees at Activision Blizzard, which was solely just lately acquired by Microsoft for a record-breaking $69 billion. The layoffs had been confirmed in a memo to employees by Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who known as the cuts a “painful determination.” Right here is the memo in full by way of The Verge:
“It’s been somewhat over three months because the Activision, Blizzard, and King groups joined Microsoft,” Spencer mentioned. “As we transfer ahead in 2024, the management of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is dedicated to aligning on a method and an execution plan with a sustainable price construction that may help the entire of our rising enterprise. Collectively, we’ve set priorities, recognized areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on one of the best alternatives for development.
“As a part of this course of, now we have made the painful determination to scale back the scale of our gaming workforce by roughly 1,900 roles out of the 22,000 folks on our workforce. The Gaming Management Crew and I are dedicated to navigating this course of as thoughtfully as potential. The people who find themselves immediately impacted by these reductions have all performed an essential half within the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox groups, and they need to be pleased with all the things they’ve completed right here. We’re grateful for the entire creativity, ardour and dedication they’ve dropped at our video games, our gamers and our colleagues. We are going to present our full help to those that are impacted in the course of the transition, together with severance advantages knowledgeable by native employment legal guidelines. These whose roles shall be impacted shall be notified, and we ask that you simply please deal with your departing colleagues with the respect and compassion that’s per our values.
“Wanting forward, we’ll proceed to spend money on areas that may develop our enterprise and help our technique of bringing extra video games to extra gamers around the globe. Though this can be a troublesome second for our workforce, I’m as assured as ever in your skill to create and nurture the video games, tales, and worlds that convey gamers collectively.”
Blizzard president Mike Ybarra has also announced that he is leaving the company. In a post on Twitter, Ybarra said, “To the Blizzard community: I also want to let you all know today is my last day at Blizzard. Leading Blizzard through an incredible time and being part of the team, shaping it for the future ahead, was an absolute honor. Having already spent 20+ years at Microsoft and with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard behind us, it’s time for me to (once again) become Blizzard’s biggest fan from the outside.”
Also departing Blizzard is the company’s chief design officer, Allen Adham.
The last round of job cuts at Microsoft saw 10,000 employees lose their jobs in 2023. Whereas Microsoft’s gaming division did not take the brunt of the cuts, there have been layoffs at multiple Xbox Game Studios.
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