Even by the standards of the video game industry which, in recent years, has seen several thousand employees laid off, the past couple of weeks have been especially grim.
Microsoft, which recently became just the second company to be valued at $3 trillion, is part of a growing list of video game companies that are shedding employees, firing a whopping 1,900 individuals in one fell swoop.
Xbox fans are preparing for a massive year featuring the release of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax Media are now under new management after the departure of Bobby Kotick and a restructuring. Both companies now report directly under Matt Booty, the new Head of Microsoft Studios. But, instead of celebrating, the gaming community now feels saddened by the latest news.
The pain is particularly pronounced on social media, where those part of the mass exodus shared their disappointment, dismay, and hurt. Some saw their tenures end after decades with Activision Blizzard while others waited for years to join Activision Blizzard only to be laid off a few months into what should’ve been their dream jobs. Things got so bad early on that Bloomberg journalist, Jason Schreier, shared that several employees reached out to him to ask if they were fired – a sign that no one saw this coming.
Who would have thought Microsoft would start 2024 with this kind of mass firing, accompanied by equally significant resignations? Mike Ybarra, the now-former president of Blizzard Entertainment, and the company’s co-founder, Allen Adham, are now both out of the company.
As previously mentioned, mass layoffs in the video game industry have gone on for the past two years, but Microsoft’s “more focused strategy” has resulted in the current bloodbath.
As noted by @tha_rami on Twitter, Microsoft’s recent unemployment spree adds to a tally that’s already half of the total dismissals last year. This is an ominous sign for the broader gaming industry as companies continue to seek ways to forge a sustainable path forward as the costs of video game development grows rapidly.
At this rate, things are about to get worse before they get better. Industry insider, Jez Corden, speculated that Microsoft might cancel BlizzCon next.
If there’s a bright spot, it’s that Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax Media now report to Matt Booty. Although Xbox faced its fair share of problems, it wasn’t as controversial and was in much better shape than Activision Blizzard prior to the acquisition.
As the leadership of the internet’s favourite company to hate shifts over to Microsoft, the hope is to develop “a culture that empowers everyone to be their most authentic selves and do their best work,” as promised by Matt Booty. It may ave been better to make such an announcement without the marching orders, but we suppose this is the only good thing about hitting such a low point in company morale – it will have nowhere to go but up.
