As reported by Bloomberg, Microsoft is gearing up to cut 1,900 jobs in its video-game units, and this includes Activision Blizzard. It’s worth noting that Microsoft had just sealed the deal to acquire Activision for a whopping $69 billion late last year.
According to an internal email seen by Bloomberg, Phil Spencer, the head honcho of gaming at Microsoft, spilled the beans that these job cuts make up around 8 percent of the company’s gaming workforce of 22,000. This news was first reported by The Verge, pointing out that other gaming giants like Riot Games have also gone ahead with substantial workforce reductions.
Phil Spencer emphasized in the email, “Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth.”
Blizzard Entertainment is in for some big changes as part of the shake-up. This includes nixing a survival game called Odyssey. On top of that, the company is saying goodbye to its President, Mike Ybarra, and Chief Design Officer, Allen Adham, who also happens to be one of the co-founders of Blizzard Entertainment.
Ybarra, who had previously talked about being committed to Blizzard for the long haul, made it official that he’s leaving in a post on X. He said, “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.”
Just three months after Microsoft sealed the deal with Activision Blizzard, they’re making changes to the workforce. In an email to the staff, Activision Publishing chief, Rob Kostich, spilled the beans, saying the cuts were made “to reset and re-align our resources for the future.”
Over 60 tech companies, with heavyweights like Amazon.com and Google’s parent Alphabet in the mix, have let go of around 11,000 employees in the tech industry this year. This info is from Layoffs.fyi, the platform keeping tabs on job cuts in the tech sector. Microsoft is set to spill the beans on its quarterly earnings on January 30.