Xbox workers stunned after jobs 'bloodbath'
Microsoft's Xbox division is undergoing significant layoffs, affecting approximately 3,200 employees as part of a business 'reset'. The company aims to pivot resources toward its most successful gaming franchises.
Why it matters
The massive job cuts highlight the volatility of the gaming industry following the post-pandemic market correction and aggressive corporate consolidation.
Image source, Bethesda Image caption, Xbox bosses say they want to focus on their biggest series, such as Fallout
That was how game developer Morgan Goin felt when she found out she was being laid off from her job at Xbox-owned ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS) last week.
The senior encounter designer, who worked on popular fantasy role-playing game The Elder Scrolls Online, had known job cuts were coming.
For weeks, reports warning of a "bloodbath" , external at Microsoft's video game studios had been circulating after the division's new chief executive, Asha Sharma, released a memo saying she planned to "reset the business" , external .
"We knew something was going to happen to somebody, but not who or how much," says Goin.
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