In the past year, we have seen a consistency in video game studios either closing down or cutting employment. It’s a problem for those in the industry as they seek to find a career where they have a strong future ahead of them. However, 2023 also saw the release of several big title releases. So it’s a bit of a mixed bag here as we continue to see thrilling games released while those who make them are struggling to deal with the looming threat of their job being cut. It’s certainly not something we were fond of seeing, and we were hopeful that 2024 would see the regrowth of the industry. But that’s not going to be the case for Microsoft.
IGN has recently reported that they were made aware of a memo that went out to Microsoft’s gaming workforce. Noted by Phil Spencer, the memo alerts their staff that they had made the difficult decision to cut down their gaming workforce by 1,900 jobs. It’s not stated what particular studios or positions could be under threat. Instead, it’s only noted that those affected will be reached out to by Microsoft and offered severance benefits as stated by their local employment laws. This news also comes just months after Microsoft made a massive purchase.
Just a few months ago, Microsoft managed to finalize its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. We’re left waiting now to see what studios and positions were affected. Of course, this is also just a report from IGN, and we haven’t seen anything officially stated quite yet from Microsoft, as the publication had reached out for a formal statement on the matter. Again, this comes from a series of already reported studio closures and layoffs. We also can’t forget to mention the threat of other studios being close to shutting down for good.
Just for example, we saw the recent closure of studios like Volition Studios. There’s also the publicly unveiled threat of Piranha Bytes potentially shutting down as well. Then this is also a problem for the folks over at Sony as Bungie could see a takeover from Sony, which has developers likely stressing over their next chapter for Destiny 2. 2023 was not a great year for job security in the gaming industry, and news of Microsoft cutting nearly 2,000 jobs alone at the start of 2024 is hopefully a trend we don’t see continue on.
