Microsoft just dropped a bombshell by laying off a ton of employees. We’re talking around 1,900 jobs axed from its gaming division. Jez Corden from Windows Central spilled the beans that these cuts hit departments responsible for physically distributing Xbox games. Now, this doesn’t mean Xbox is ditching physical media entirely, but it’s definitely raising some eyebrows about where Microsoft’s strategy is heading.
Let’s be real, Microsoft has been pushing us towards digital for a while now. Just look at the Xbox Series S, it’s fully digital, and those leaks about a mid-gen, digital-only Xbox Series X? Yeah, it’s clear where they’re headed. Plus, the upcoming Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is dropping in May, and guess what? It’s digital-only too.
Microsoft hasn’t officially confirmed how these layoffs will hit the physical games division, but we’re already feeling the ripple effects. Blizzard Entertainment’s undeveloped survival game got the axe because of issues with the Synapse engine they use. And to top it off, Mike Ybarra, the big boss at Blizzard, is outta there.
This whole restructuring move by Microsoft is definitely making waves, and it’s something we’ll be watching closely. So, buckle up, folks – the gaming landscape is shifting once again.
Multiple sources tell me that Microsoft is laying off the entire internal customer support team(s) for ABK games, save a few.
MS will outsource the rest to external companies abroad.
ABK was one of the few games pubs with a high-quality internal customer support team.
— Jez (@JezCorden) January 25, 2024
